INTRODUCING: Cult Of Lilith

The field of extreme metal has been evolving in leaps and bounds in recent years as bands are acquiring a heightened sense of fearlessness, pushing boundaries further than ever before. One band who have turned heads in impressive fashion is Icelandic newcomers CULT OF LILITH. Having only been on the scene since 2016, announcing their arrival with the release of their debut EP Arkanum they have quickly transformed into one of metals hottest prospects for the future. 2020 has witnessed the band stake their claim for the top of the pile with a chaotic fusion of technical ferocity, powerful melodies and classical orchestration which are all devilishly combined to form their debut full length entitled Mara.

“With the EP it was pretty much me recording with the help of some friends but this release was way more ambitious” explains founding member and guitarist Daníel Þór Hannesson. “There were a lot of pieces to fit together and with a whole band it made such a huge difference, having a group of musicians who were all dedicated to their parts instead of me playing everything, especially having a vocalist who has so many diverse styles too. It gave us the chance to scratch a lot of our musical itches and bring it all together into one cohesive vision and join all of our styles together into one harmonious extreme metal package. The response has been overwhelmingly positive. I’m amazed that people are responding to it so well. I knew we had a killer record but it’s a pleasure to see how quickly it has propelled the band”.

Mara was inspired by The Nightmare, a painting created by artist Henry Fuseli in the 1700’s. “We really liked the idea of incorporating mythology and particularly the dark, sinister undertones. The name Lilith is steeped in mythology too and the lyrical content, as well as the music itself, are both kind of frantic and varied, like an assortment of nightmares so we thought it would be a fitting name” discussed Daniel. “I remember seeing this painting where it’s a troll, hag looking entity that is sitting on top of the chest of a sleeping woman There are a lot of folklore related tales about this creature so we thought it would be a cool concept”. This particularly chilling image is a befitting choice as it is a perfect accompaniment to the ominous and evil sounding tones that form the core of this release.

Prior to the development of Mara, CULT OF LILITH encountered an issue with the departure of their vocalist due to health related issues. A hurdle which had the potential to derail this project. “At first we were quite worried as in Iceland a lot of the musicians are in quite a few other bands and we wanted to have a vocalist who was solely dedicated to our band and have the same focus and ambition as us” informed Daniel. “We came across Mario Infantes who had just recently moved here from Spain and was advertising on Facebook looking for a band or likeminded musicians. Our bassist saw his post so we contacted him, he was fresh blood in the scene so it worked out really well for us. Right from the beginning, it was always the intention to do a very diverse record. We all have different influences and had a lot of things we wanted to explore musically and with the introduction of a new vocalist it opened a lot of doors for us”.

For the most part Daniel has been the main contributor to CULT OF LILITH, compiling material along the way for use in future releases. “I wrote the bulk of the album, a lot of it was written before some members even joined the band” admitted Daniel. “Some of the material I wrote a few years ago that I’ve just been sitting on but has been smoothed out as a group. Everyone had their input and I like that we have that dynamic. For future material we’re definitely gearing up towards everybody being a part of the writing process. I don’t usually conceptualise a whole song right from the beginning. It kind of comes together on its own along the way. I let the process take me where it needs to go and something will pop into my head. Some I kind of get stuck on and others just flow naturally and I’ll be able to write a full song in one sitting. It’s quite an experimental approach and it’s just a case of fitting the pieces together”.

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Read about CULT OF LILITH and more upcoming bands in Issue 3 of our New Blood magazine via Patreon.