Third offering for Summoner’s Circle.
In 2024, Blind (vocals), Gog (guitar), Omnus (guitar), Y’takt (bass/vocals), Nadir (keyboards/vocals) and Invictus (drums) unveil Cult, with support from Black Lion Records.
Apostle’s Dogma opens the rite with murmurs followed by mysterious sounds and chants, before giving way to Cult of the Dead Son and its intense contrast between majestic and more virulent elements. Slower, sometimes melodic touches rub off on the aggressive riffs and visceral howls, before joining Shroud of Humanity to develop its melancholic orchestrations, but also to bring out the rare clear vocal parts that answer the saturated vocals. Rage and gentleness coexist perfectly in the surrounding darkness, which also harbors a few more anguished peaks, finally giving way to the icy Irreverence of the Cross. The track first stomps along at breakneck speed, before offering us more aery Prog-influenced passages, which also adopt the virulent saturation before letting it fully express itself to reach a more soothing finale where the guitar is adorned with heavy roots, then fades away to let mystical choirs introduce Thirst of the Vulture, a composition where the different vocal parts survey a steep but sometimes grandiose musical landscape. The rhythm builds and then subsides until its final moments, followed by the birth of Profit of Death in heady tones, but we all know that it’s with the intensity of saturation that the band expresses itself best, and it doesn’t take long for it to make its mark, leaving a few slots for gentleness, while retaining its dark touch. It’s a long track, and it allows the rhythmic movement to embrace its complex patterns before returning to raw power, just as on Dogmatic Defilings, which takes a highly polished approach despite its short length, allowing the album to draw to a close on its climax, as much in terms of violence as theatrical anguish.
Although being barely ten years old, Summoner’s Circle already boasts a strong musical identity. Cult easily envelops us in its universe, blending violence, tranquility and patterns worked to the extreme.
90/100