ALBUM REVIEW: Live By The Sword – Cardinals Folly
Hailing from the Finnish capital and heavy metal epicentre Helsinki, doom merchants CARDINALS FOLLY have been a juggernaut in Finland’s underground doom scene for over a decade. Originally called THE COVEN (they changed their name in 2007), the band have been plying their trade since 2004. With a sound rooted in traditional heavy metal and old school doom, CARDINALS FOLLY announced themselves to the world with their debut album Such Power Is Dangerous! in 2011 and have gone from strength to strength without compromising on their epic, traditional and groove-laden sound. The band’s sixth studio album Live By The Sword is raw and meaty, bringing with it a blasphemous blend of Luciferian and Lovecraftian depravity and horror.
Building on the unholy foundations of 2020’s Defying The Righteous Way, CARDINALS FOLLY have once again summoned the forces of darkness with searing guitar solos, pummelling riffs and enchanting pagan chants. Live By The Sword is arguably the band at their most violent, apocalyptic and epic. Screaming out of hell on a winged beast of burden, CARDINALS FOLLY spread their heretical message with sinister glee.
Like the majority of CARDINALS FOLLY’s back catalogue, their music embodies the ‘ride or die’ mentality of old school metal with spectacular imagery of the depths of hell, something along the lines of MOTÖRHEAD’s raw rock ’n’ roll colliding with DIO’s spectacularly epic lyrics and CANDLEMASS’ cavernous vocal delivery. For the entirety of Live By The Sword‘s runtime you are bludgeoned continuously with riff after riff, each one filled with a ravishing grimness and intimidating darkness. The passion for old school metal and doom is abundant throughout the album’s duration.
Live By The Sword conjures up imagery of cackling witches, freakish demons and ominous hooded cult members in a procession of evil worship. It harks back to an era where metal felt dangerous and induced panic across the world. While this may not have as much of an impact now as it did back then as Satanic imagery has become more normalised, it still awakens a nostalgia within you when you first heard the diabolical sound of the devil’s tritone. Despite not pushing the boundaries of doom and keeping it firmly within their comfort zone, CARDINALS FOLLY still manage to fire up your imagination like a roaring Harley Davidson, not unlike the one MEAT LOAF used on Bat Out Of Hell.
There is an admirable stubbornness in CARDINALS FOLLY‘s approach to their sound. Raw and uncompromising, the band stick to their guns yet there’s always something different about each album they produce. In the case of Live By The Sword, it takes on a more operatic tone compared to 2017’s Deranged Pagan Sons and it’s a quicker tempo unlike the much doomier Such Power Is Dangerous!. The album’s ritualistic chanting singles it out and sees CARDINALS FOLLY lean strongly into influences from the likes of CANDLEMASS and BLACK SABBATH, and the songs take on a more dynamic form as a result.
Opening up the demon gates is the snarling and biting Life Eternal; at just under two minutes it is the shortest song on the album, however it sets the tone with buzzing walls of sound and cutting yet sombre lead guitar melodies before fading into Ride Or Die 666. Granted this song does feel a little bit cheesy given its title, but it’s a fast-paced, thundering track packed with demonic vocals and bludgeoning riffs. Luciferian goes back towards the band’s doom roots, building walls of sound and sharp lead guitar melodies accompanied by driving bass lines and pummelling drums. Priesthood Of Darkness conjures up imagery of those classic occult hooded figures that you see adorning doom metal covers. Eerie ritual chants and anthemic, evil sounding riffs combine to create a sinister sounding track that could be played at a black mass with a sacrificial offering.
Innsmouth Royalty ramps up the pace after the trudging Priesthood Of Darkness. Significantly up-tempo, this song channels the ferocity of MOTÖRHEAD and decimates your ear drums with its unrelenting speed and cacophonous procession of riffs. Title track Live By The Sword follows a similar formula and keeps the energy levels high; its frantic nature feels like you’re trying to escape the creatures of hell going full speed on a chopper. Ludovico feels like a traditional metal track, with the guitars leading the charge throughout with interwoven melodies and classic rock drum rhythms. Album closer Last Bastions Of Doom lives up to its name and feels like CARDINALS FOLLY are issuing an open challenge to their title, one which they’ll happily defend with an insatiable bloodlust. Riff heavy and relentlessly fast, it’s the final battering your ears receive before needing a lie down.
Even though Live By The Sword doesn’t bring anything groundbreaking to the table, it is a fun and nostalgic album, with plenty of riffs and demonic imagery to satisfy that dark side within you.
Rating: 7/10
Live By The Sword is set for release on October 27th via Soulseller Records.
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