1349 – Massive Cauldron of Chaos
- Posted on 25-11-2014
The well-known Norwegian black metal force named 1349 has once again unleashed an aural apocalypse for all you chaos-loving fuckers out there to enjoy and take pleasure in. The new album entitled "Massive Cauldron of Chaos" most definitely lives up to its title in that we are presented with an extremely tight, bombastic, well-written, and insanely aggressive album. Let us examine it a bit, shall we?
Whereas some of the band’s previous releases were a bit hit-or-miss in my humble opinion, the 8 songs that constitute this new blackened opus are all pretty damn interesting and captivating to listen to, which is to say that the album as a whole is coherent and solid from start to finish. As I pointed out earlier on, the album sounds massive and the production is suitably clear and yet with a fittingly raw edge to it. The musicianship is excellent and there are plenty of riffs scattered throughout that I guarantee will stick in your head for quite some time to come. In terms of atmosphere the band also manages to evoke a sinister and violent mood, which is both pleasant and nasty to lose oneself in. 1349 also lean heavily on thrash metal in that they have incorporated a lot of thrashy riffs into their songs, which adds some variety and diversity to the whole thing (not to mention a sense of old-school 80ies metal). The solos are also very well-crafted, and the vocals of Ravn are fortunately better than ever before. Oh yes, this is indeed a great slab of black metal madness!
"Massive Cauldron of Chaos" does not break any new ground and it is neither original or innovative as such, but it is well-arranged and highly entertaining to listen to all the way through, and I dare say that 1349 do possess a sound and identity of their own and that followers of the band and the black metal genre in general will find this album inspiring and awesome.