CultØ – Of The Sun
Release Date: 27th October 2022
Label: Time to Kill Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
FFO: In Flames, Amon Amarth, Septicflesh, Bloodbath.
Review By: Paul Cairney
There have been a fair number of top-drawer Metal bands from Italy. Ready to join this list are the Lombardy quintet, CultØ with their debut album, ‘Of the Sun’.
It is becoming a tad common for reviewers to be absolutely awed by the strength of debut albums. We are constantly, ‘surprised’ or it is ‘unbelievable’ or we insert other adjectives to describe why a debut album is so strong.
The fact is, bands/artists often have a long time to perfect their debut album. It is demoed far beyond necessary as they wait a record deal (more so in the pre-internet days) and songs are perfected. It is unsurprising that many bands do not surpass their debut album in terms of urgency, desire and, in some cases, pure unadulterated quality.
Of the Sun is perhaps an example of this. Vocalist, Dave (we are not given further name details in the press release), began writing songs in 2015 prior to putting CultØ in place in 2019. Honing the album through lockdown has led to the band producing an incredibly enjoyable 41 minutes or so of, Swedish inspired, Melodic Death Metal.
The result is an album that belies the bands youth. It is aggressive when it needs to be, often a tickle heavier than your usual melodic death metal album. It canters along with a confident pace, tracks such as the opener, ‘Flare’ or others such as, ‘Frost’ and ‘Void’ get the heart pumping slightly faster. However, it is with ‘Darkness Leads to Light’ where CultØ excel. Similar to an Amon Amarth riff, the track rattles along and will have you punching the air seeking the nearest pit!
To be fair, after listening to this album, you will be in the pit already! Seek it out and enjoy.
(4 / 5)
