Cult of Lilith - Mara (2020)

Crafting one of the richest and most unique musical experiences of 2020, today we have Iceland’s Cult of Lilith with their debut full-length release “Mara”. Surrounding their Death Metal with tons of unique atmospherics, different instruments, and weird thematic elements in some songs, this is one of those Extreme Metal releases that are hard to classify, but very familiar to enjoy. If we had to name a similar band, we could say that this band is a Death Metal version of Fleshgod Apocalypse with some additional folky/baroque elements.

Opening with the brutal “Cosmic Maelstrom”, the listener quickly gets a Brutal Death Metal/Deathcore vibe thanks to the screams/growls combination and the intense riffing, but the atmospheric elements quickly set the band apart. As the album progresses, the Stranger Things-esque opening of “Purple Tide” and dreamy opening to “Atlas”, show the band’s unique ability to craft intricate and aggressive pieces with lush contrasting elements and still deliver their signature brutality.

One stand out song is the brilliant “Profeta Paloma”, which features a very emotive instrumental passage of Flamenco music, delivering a very interesting switch of pace to an intense piece. The band’s ability to craft jazzy elements into solid guitar wizardry is very nicely blended, creating brutal and yet technical onslaughts that are nicely contrasted by dreamy clean vocals and crazy awesome bass guitar lines, as heard on the closer “La Soupir du Fantome”.

As a whole, “Mara” is a very unique and blistering release. With tons of influences very creatively blended into a cohesive sound, Cult of Lilith has definitely made a statement with such a lush and yet aggressive release. If you are in the market for something extreme, technically proficient, and with a crushing pace, perfect for intense headbanging, look no further as you have found it.

Label: Metal Blade Records

Release: September 4th, 2020

Genre: Experimental/Extreme Death Metal

Country: Iceland