Release Date: October 31st 2026. Record Label: Various. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl
CULT - Tracklist
1.Born Again 01:53
2.Cult 04:56
3.The Summoning 05:39
4.Cyclops 02:21
5.Altar 06:44
6.Marrow 04:20
7.Vesexuff 02:18
8.Omen of Oblivion 08:18
Members
Mikael Rise - vocals and rhythm guitar
Dennis Larsen - drums
Jesper Kragh - lead and rhythm guitars
Leifur Nielsen - bass and backing vocals
Andreas Cadaver - rhythm and lead guitars
Review
Doom/Sludge Metallers Dread Witch return with their second album CULT which builds upon the foundations created within their celebrated 2023 debut album Tower Of The Severed Serpent. That record allowed Dread Witch to include a heavy style of extreme metal such as Death Metal and Thrash Metal into the mix whilst keeping a gloomy Occult Metal element into the overall sound.
CULT is perhaps more heavier and violent compared to their debut album with Dread Witch fully selling their fucked up OCCULT METAL imagery to the underground masses. The record is super DOOM METAL obsessive which makes it the perfect album to listen to within the upcoming gloomy winter months. Dread Witch develops a thrilling backdrop of COSMIC soundscapes and stripped back psychedelic passages that remind me of YOB and UFOMAMMUT.
The record lasts around thirty six minutes across eight tracks with the right amount of ferocious delivery being played within each of the tracks that sees Dread Witch perfectly balance the EXTREME and NON-EXTREME metallic parts of the whole record. The album can be quite down-tuned and violently intense at the best of times with the harsh vocals and guttural screams adding an uneasy atmosphere into the whole experience.
The music is a mixture of slow-to-mid paced grooves, fast-paced Thrash Metal beats and multiple breakdowns which adds an almost CRUST PUNK/METAL flow to the album. There are some great Prog Metal sounds and themes appearing out of nowhere that never feels out of place even when DREAD WITCH return to their Occult Metal roots.
Dread Witch have three members playing guitars and that’s what gives CULT such a great mix of highly atmospheric Doom/Sludge Metal sounds that always feel grounded and completely over the top which sees the album become quite cinematic on tracks such as Cult, The Summoning, Altar, Marrow and Omen Of Oblivion. It’s within these tracks you begin to experience Dread Witch delivering their most intense rhythms and musical passages on the whole album with an unstoppable Punk Rock attitude forming.
Dread Witch’s debut album feels quite pale in comparison when compared to CULT. This record is more fully fleshed out with stunning COSMIC musical passages allowing the band to explore musical themes and ideas that were only hinted briefly on their debut record. I’m still a huge fan of Tower Of The Severed Serpent but CULT is a different beast altogether where nothing feels off limits and DREAD WITCH are finally showing the world their true selves.
The production contained and explored within CULT is simply masterful with massive amounts of VOLUME being played from every corner possible. The song can be quite nuanced even within the heavier moments which allows Dread Witch to play to their absolute strengths from start to finish.
CULT is an absolute marvel of an album and should be considered one of the year’s best EXTREME records you’ll hear this year.
Words by Steve Howe
"CULT" is available to buy now on LP via DHU Records, CD via Bottomless Pit and digital via Gateway Music.
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