CULT OF ENDTIME – In Charnel Lights
- Posted on 11-06-2015
Formed out of the ashes of the death/thrash band Discard, Finnish quintet Cult of Endtime shift their sonic outlook into more of a 90’s oriented death/doom montage for their debut album "In Charnel Lights". Looking to their domestic history for reference points, a lot of the atmosphere and pacing has much in common with acts like Demigod, Convulse, and even various time periods of UK’s much missed Cathedral, while adding in a hefty dose of aggressive death screams/ growls and occasional riff choices that are equally death driven.
Adding keyboard/organ strains to key doom riffs elevates the melancholy and despair for "The Colossus Fell", as vocalist Heikki Miettinen spits out words in deep pain. Drummer Sami Ratilainen juggles timely fills with his normal slower to mid-tempo percussion duties, occasionally throwing in double bass parts but for the most part keeping "Hidden Gods" and opener "A Vast Cosmic Horror" cemented in churning, throwback doom/death. For the most part, Cult of Endtime keep the songs very groovy, occasionally adding a little giddy up to the riffs to make "Cairns on Mercury" a definite highlight, the instrumental sections containing some eerie, exotic-oriented clean strumming from guitarists Janne Roiha and Ohto Jaatinen.
Viking-like strains also factor into the main verse portions of "Gnostic Haeresis" – while Heikki bellows in a deep, Dan Swanö meets Scar Symmetry manner for the follow up "Funeral Voyagers". The production is evil and reminiscent of the 90’s as well – the cover art certainly capturing a time period centuries old. You get 8 songs in a tight 42 minute window, never exhausting to consume- and as a result, Cult of Endtime could be one of those newcomers to make a splash in the flooded scene these days.
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