Take a seat, Carach Angren is about to tell us their story.
After a period of relative quiet, the duo Seregor (vocals/guitar) and Ardek (keyboards, Kryzorath), assisted by Gabe Seeber (drums, Abigail Williams, Decrepit Birth, Vale of Pnath, etc.), Patrick Damiani (guitar/bass, Rome), Nikos Mavridis (violin), and Tim Wells (narration), will release their new EP, The Cult of Kariba, in 2025.
The anxiety returns as soon as A Malevolent Force Stirs welcomes us, revealing its dark orchestration where Tim‘s voice sets the scene, then saturation crushes the tranquility on Draw Blood, where the jerky but majestic rhythm takes over. Seregor‘s theatrical voice is as powerful and demonstrative as ever, perfectly complementing the riffs and keyboards that paint a horrific landscape that becomes even more distressing when the ghostly piano comes into play during the quieter passage, but the heartbreaking story continues, pausing only to join The Resurrection of Kariba. The second chapter also starts off very slowly, suddenly intensifying when violent elements come into play, irrevocably tinting the atmosphere with darkness and oppression while the vocalist shows us all his abilities, accompanying blast beats and choirs with aggression and conviction. The anxiety continues even when the riffs disappear on the outro, allowing us a moment of respite before Ik Kom Uit Het Graf comes to surprise us, proving once again that Dutch lends itself perfectly to the band’s stories. This track plays much more on the industrial atmosphere and orchestrations than on violence, allowing the vocalist to alternate between all possible tones, even switching to clean vocals for short moments to soften the dance before letting it flare up again, while Venomous 1666 immediately counterattacks with a more minimalist Old School approach. The sound is much rawer, but the contrast with the violin is all the more striking, and the orchestrations gradually become heavier, particularly towards the end of the track, which leads us into silence after a final moment of unease.
Carach Angren‘s absence was noticeable on the scene, and I was longing for their return, which they organized with great fanfare with The Cult of Kariba! Its twenty minutes are savored like a chilling and gripping horror short film!
95/100
