ALBUM REVIEW: Mark of Rot – Cabal
Denmark is not a particularly renowned hot-spot in the production of contemporary metal, let alone deathcore. Nevertheless, CABAL remain defiant in this era of inter-connectivity with their latest release, Mark of Rot reeking of resilient hostility and confrontation (just look at the artwork).
And yes, despite the side-stepping in the press release saying “the songs draw a lot of inspiration from everything from black and death metal to djent and hardcore”, this is a deathcore record and this is a deathcore band. Anyone who might shy away from the phrase are not for this band and though the group may dislike the pigeonholing, that is essentially where Mark of Rot lives (though it does certainly contain characteristics of djent, black and death metal particularly). Anyway, onto the record. The one thing that became apparent on the first few listens was its need to be digested slowly. The subtleties and the nuances of the album definitely require several listens to be truly appreciated, despite the straight-forward nature of the music. Its first impression, more likely than not will be that it feels like 90% beatdown. Bruising while cruising if you will.
On the contrary, opening track and lead single False Light is merciless in pulling in listeners. The syncopated, offbeat drumming and right-in-your-face riffing is a combination that rips out the speakers to grab you by the scruff of the neck. Put simply, if False Light doesn’t pull you in, you’ve probably got your headphones in the wrong orifice. This bleeds into second single Nothingness which features a much more visceral, much deeper CJ McMahon (THY ART IS MURDER) than we heard on last year’s Dear Desolation. This track in particular showcases the full extent of CABAL‘s awesome balance of technical proficiency and monolithic heaviness and perhaps the best transition from organ to blastbeats ever?
It’s a phenomenal start nonetheless and arguably the best two tracks on the album. This isn’t to put the rest of the record down though. Perhaps, as the ten track album continues in a very similar, formulaic way, you could say the seemingly singular flavour wears thin by the end. And sure, some of the more memorable moments lie in the first half of the tracklisting but, Mark of Rot has no shortage of double-take moments and the even spread of these across the album is so refreshing. It seems a lot of bands clog up the first half of the album with all these ideas to the point where it would be better off as an EP. CABAL are streets ahead in this sense.
On the rest of the record, there are some great moments instrumentally on Blackened Soil, Whispers, The Darkest Embrace and the title-track but it would be hard to argue that the strength of Mark of Rot doesn’t rest in the murderous vocals that lie front and centre. It is exactly this that steers and drives the blackened, doom-laden heart of Mark of Rot into a genuinely crushing oblivion.
This is a completely draining album and you may come out the end thankful to be alive, showing CABAL‘s success in Mark of Rot. They’ve created an apocalyptic soundscape, belonging in the upper echelons of this music. Besides the narrow-ish scope of the album and the ever-so-slightly over-emphasised production that could be brought down to earth a bit, there isn’t currently much they are missing from being in the conversation of the best albums from this area of metal in some time. They totally own the aspects of deathcore that many bands wince at and shy away from and ultimately, CABAL now has a serious case to be in some end-of-year lists. This is really, really good.
Rating: 8/10
Mark of Rot is out now via Long Branch Records.
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