ALBUM REVIEW: Accursed Possession – Cultus Profano

Black metal is more traditionally associated with the icy climes of Scandinavia, and the sun-baked vistas of California seem a million miles removed from the genres spiritual homeland. Los Angeles’ CULTUS PROFANO are one of the bands that are keeping the classic sound alive in the US, with the demonic duo producing an interesting take on the raw Norwegian sound that proves to be every bit as impressive as the bands they idolise, with their 2018 debut, Sacramentum Obscurus, establishing the band as one to watch out for. The follow up to this album, Accursed Possession, sees the band refine their sound even further, making for one of the better old school black metal records you’re likely to hear this year.

The album starts with Cursed In Sin, Op. 25, a darkly mesmerising offering that sets a bleak tone for the rest of the album, bringing together razor sharp guitars, steady drum hooks and arid, snarling vocals, which gives this track a sound that is firmly rooted in an old school black metal sound, with a caustic production only serving to make this song all the more acerbic. Devoted to the Black Horns, Op. 16 has some excellent, hypnotic guitar sections peppered amongst it’s more visceral moments, lending an ethereal quality to this powerful slab of black metal. There’s some fantastic, shrill vocals that pierce the relatively epic approach of the song, adding a biting contrast to the sound that works incredibly well.

Upon a Tomb of Sacrilege, Op. 24 is a much more melody-driven and aggressive affair, with the guitars setting a breakneck pace right off the bat, with the frenetic tempo of the drums following suit. The vocals match the shift in intensity, and possess a rabid, almost feral edge that makes this particular song sound utterly bestial with their inclusion. Towards The Temple of Darkened Fates, Op. 19, another lengthy, bombastic track with huge chords and authoritative, primal percussion, takes the savage nature of the last track, and strips away much of the melody in favour of dissonant, grating hooks, which give this a chaotic, but undoubtedly grandiose, feel.

Within A Coven of Shadows, Op. 21 has a noticeably more focused sound, with the drums especially being tighter. The slightly more subdued guitars really help to allow the vocals to come to the fore more prominently, carving an acidic gouge through the rest of the music, giving this song a measured, brooding feel that works quite well. Tenebris Venit, Op. 23, a far shorter, punchier track by this albums standards, brings back those beguiling, hazy riffs that informed the sound of Devoted to the Black Horns, with a slower tempo and haunting, minimalist flourishes making for a brilliantly basic and enthralling sound. This more spartan approach actually aids the track no end, making it sound more monolithic than many of the tracks that are double its length on here. It’s a magnificent climactic tracks that leads into the albums closer, Crown of Hellfire, Op. 11, perfectly; Another fierce and ferocious piece of cold, classic sounding black metal, it brings together all the best elements of the band’s sound, from the hellish, howling vocals, imaginative, but traditional, leads and punishing percussive blasts, making for a catchy and energetic conclusion to the record.

This is far from the most original sounding record out there, which is far from a criticism, as CULTUS PROFANO clearly appreciate and lean towards a classic sound, but it does have one very big thing going for it; it’s one of the few old school style black metal albums to come out in recent times that is actually impressive in its own right. Whereas there’s plenty of bands who have a tendency to produce fairly lacklustre love letters to the early 90’s Norwegian scene, CULTUS PROFANO do a great job of taking this well established style and adding to it, and the production has just the right amount of rawness to draw in fans of this style, without alienating listeners who are acclimatised to this kind of black metal. This is the band’s defining musical statement to date, and it will be interesting to see how the band tops this with whatever they release next.

Rating: 9/10

Accursed Possession is out now via Debemur Morti Productions.

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