2012 was an outstanding year for death metal demos. That year saw great demos, full of gloomy promise and fecund morbidity, by the likes of Chthe’ilist, Thevatat, Wormridden, Cadaveric Fumes, Sempiternal Dusk, Sulphurous, Sewercide, Castle Freak, Necrot—and that’s just from a quick glance over at the ol’ wall o’ tapes. But two demos really stuck out in 2012. Talking about Bölzer’s Roman Acupuncture and Deathcult’s Demo ‘12. Not only were both demos completely unexpected, but both acts shared a member, one Mr. Okoi Jones. Although the two bands sounded hardly anything alike. Bölzer’s pantheon-dismantling blackened death-thrash had very little in common with Deathcult’s orthodox OSDM battery—save for the vocals, which were handled in both bands by Jones. Then, for whatever reason, Bölzer took off like Pegasus galloping through the starry pastures, and Deathcult slipped through the cracks. Deathcult’s challenging, but ultimately rewarding 2014 follow-up, the 2 song LP, Pleading for Death . . . Choking on Life, reminded the masses that Swiss death-mongers were still out there, potent and gnarly as ever, but given that release’s format and brevity, Deathcult remained in relative obscurity.
Now, four years after their foreboding demo, Deathcult are finally set to release their debut full length, Beasts of Faith, and we’ve got exclusive rights to premiere the first song from the album. “Barren Land” will chase you down dark, narrow corridors where decaying appendages reach out to pull you apart, over scorched plains, beneath a crushingly hallucinatory sky, where shrieked vocals swoop down like rabid harpies. All the while the guitars and drums are slavering at your heels, goaded by the very fear and desperation that propels your futile attempt at escape.
Here’s what the band has to say about “Barren Land” and their debut:
“. . . Fear and denial of the evermore smouldering womb of religion. As our mind is barren land, there’s no fertile ground to plant the horrible seed. . . . The upcoming album Beasts of Faith is our first output with our new line-up, so it marks an important step for Deathcult.”
“Barren Land” is only the first of nine tracks, so spend some time with this one. Make sure you are properly anointed and ready come September 26th when the album’s released. Invictus will put out Beasts of Faith on CD, Iron Bonehead will handle the vinyl.
