HERETIC CULT REDEEMER
HERETIC CULT REDEEMER “Flagellum Universalis”
By Dr. Abner Mality
For those interested in the more intellectual side of black metal, this Greek outfit can be recommended. For the most part, they find a kind of sweet spot where they have an avant-garde and unorthodox approach, but they also keep the aggression and structure that more “mainstream” black metal fans like.
Coming from Greece, they do have the vibe of the rich black metal scene there, with overtones of classics like VARATHRON, NECROMANTIA and the like. But surprisingly they also retain a lot of the feel of Scandinavian black metal as well. And when H.C.R. is at their most adventurous, on tracks like “The Woven Chords of Ecstasy” and “Eye of the Saturnian Dawn”, they rival DEATHSPELL OMEGA with their dissonance and odd song construction. They really try a little bit of everything here and for the most part, they weave together a lot of strands of black metal pretty well.
The early songs like “Intoxication Divine” and “Lunar Reign—Lunar Apogee” come in pretty fierce and straightforward, but on “Lapsit Exillis”, things start to get weird with a bouncy, almost peppy kind of riff and a mix of both Greek and Norse BM styles. The dissonance grows as the album moves on and final track “Primeval Cognition II” is the longest and most “flanged”...definitely the more dissonant side of the coin and a bit much to take.
HERETIC CULT REDEEMER do take pains to put thought into what they do and there is some craftsmanship going on here, but not to the point that the bestial side of black metal is lost. A better than average release.