CULTES DES GHOULES – Haxan
- by Peter Loftus
- Posted on 30-11-2011
With “Haxan” Polish black metallers Cultes Des Ghoules serve up 55 minutes of primitive black metal that take us all the way back to “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas”, early Barathrum and Mortuary Drape. Filled with morbid, ravenous beats that emanate from some Lovecraftian crypt, “Haxan” drags us down into an underworld where the bones are piled high and occult rituals are without end.
The approach is simplistic – basic, repetitive riffs and drumming that run from crawling chaos to pounding evil. After a short time the hypnotic nature of the music, the pervading atmosphere of death and the subtle peaks in each song begin to work their unholy magic. The vocals add greatly to the effect, from raspy, slit-throat groans to Atilla-inspired howls and ghoulish clean parts. Add to that the sampled screams and wails and you have a compelling soundtrack of murder and sacrifice.