Karkosa – Esoterrorcult
Release Date: 23rd February 2024
Label: Redefining Darkness Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Black Metal, Blackened Death Metal, Bestial Black Metal, Progressive Black Metal.
FFO: Behemoth, Belphegor, Archgoat, Marduk, Dark Funeral.
Review By: Rick Farley
At first listen of Karkosa’s full length debut album Esoterrorcult released on Redefining Darkness Records, I must admit I was a little underwhelmed. Sure, it is a barrage of relentless warring guitars, growls, screams, howls, and machine gun blast beats that feels like being fully bulldozed by a speeding semi-truck full of wolverines, but it just sounded like that is all it was going to be. Been there done that if you will. Well, I am here to admit that I was being a total dickwad and my brutal black metal credentials were under serious question at the time. Esoterrorcult is all those wonderful or grim, blackened death metal things that we all love so much, but it is also so much more. Once this album’s hooks really dig in, it reveals itself to be a completely different animal full of more than just piss and venom. It is dissonantly complex, often with slight elements of tech death and layers of progressiveness that takes this so much further into the realm of nightmarish soundscapes. To be fair I was in heavy traffic the very first time I listened to this, so I was already distracted and highly irritable. Let us move on, shall we.
Formed in 2013, Karkosa are an aggressive black metal quartet hailing from Fort Wayne Indiana. Having released a highly touted EP Harvest of the Adept in 2018, the band showed serious promise from the start. Consisting of Alden Debee, Brenton Weaver (guitars), Ian Lemberg (drums) and Rafael Palacios (vocals), Esoterrorcult is an infernal coming together of blasphemous, corrosive, and violently dark black metal. You will be hard-pressed to find a more menacing as well as musically fresh example of this genre.
Right from the beginning of the record, track one, Encorcelled Spirits, bursts out of the speakers like an angry demon full of hellfire. A brief guitar intro last about nine seconds before a cacophony of blast beats and searing tremolo picked riffs flog the ever-living life from your body. A lone tortured scream over the fiery beginning riffs sets the mood of pure agony. This track alone tells the story of how varied this record really is. Guitar squawks, death metal riffs mixed with burning black metal speed, a huge singable chorus that is alarmingly hypnotizing, progressive sensibilities that changes the mood from violently possessed to grim darkness all come together in a way that feels completely organic. The vocal range from Rafael goes from memorable shrieks, and growls to spoken word and course yells. He truly sets this release off with tremendous vocal personality. The punishing drums from Ian hit extreme levels of destruction on tracks like Poison of God and Domini Sanctum. His insane fills are as lethal as his blast beats. The guitars of Alden and Brenton are full of hateful toxicity throughout the entire record but are at their highest point in tracks like Angelus Ejectiones, where hooky death metal riffs meet dissonant, frenzied black metal. Glorious from beginning to end.
Honestly, I could not be more impressed with how quickly this record showed me its true vile face. The production sounds massive as well as oppressive. By the second listen, one where I actually listened, I felt like I was in hell being ripped apart repeatedly, each time a little more complex and horrifying than the first. Esoterrocult is a brutal record full of hate, spite, malice, and engaging songwriting. Not to be missed.
(4.5 / 5)
