CARDINALS FOLLY — Our Cult Continues! (review)

CARDINALS FOLLY — Our Cult Continues! album cover Album · 2014 · Doom Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
Time Signature
Chant of shadows...

Genre: doom metal

Formerly known as Coven, Cardinals Folly is a Finnish doom metal band who style leans towards the occult. They have an EP and a full-length under their belt, and now follows up with Our Cult Continues!

The occult inclination of this trio is not only reflected in the name of the abum (and title track), but also in the 4+ minutes long intro 'Chant of Shadows'. The songs proper are performed in an old school doom metal style which draws on 1970s and 1980s elements in both doom metal and traditional metal. Thus, listeners are treated to relatively upbeat heavy rock parts and heavier old school doom metal passages. Thus, a track like 'Morbid Glory' has the same drive as House of Capricorn's 'All Hail to the Netherworld', but is much more unpolished, and 'Our Cult Continues' is reminiscent of the rock vibes immanent in Pentagram's music. In other words, Cardinals Folly combine melody and doom-ladden barrenness, and they do so quite convincingly. While never reaching the depths of extreme slow tempo that characterizes much contemporary doom metal, Cardinals Folly's music nevertheless comes across crushingly heavy, as heard in 'The Black Baroness' and 'Walvater Unveiled' as well as the doomy parts of 'Sighisoaran'.

This crushing heaviness is generated by the rough edged and bottom-heavy production which emphasizes the breadth and depth of the guitar, while the bass has an organic sounds that obviously pays tribute to the style of Geezer Butler. We are not exactly dealing with lo-fi production, but rather with the unpolished non-compromising rawness that captures the spirit of traditional doom metal. My only beef with this album is that the vocals are weak in the mix and also a bit too monotonous for my taste. But I definitely hear what sort of aesthetics vocalist (and bassist) Mikko Kääriäinen is aiming at with his baritone singing style.

A fine work of doom metal Our Cult Continues! should appeal to fans of the likes of Bedemon and Pentagram as well as early Count Raven and Saint Vitus.

(review originally posted at seaoftranquility.org)
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Rise of the Black Fang Metalcore
KILLGRAVE
Buy this album from MMA partners
Die for Us Technical Death Metal
WEREWOLVES
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Goblin Sessions Heavy Metal
THEM
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tormenta De Arena Metalcore
VORAGO
Buy this album from MMA partners
Infinite Metalcore
FUTURE GHOST
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

ScapeGoat Official Lyric Video
FIREFLAME
Bosh66· 12 hours ago
FireFlame - The Last Ride (Official Video)
FIREFLAME
Bosh66· 12 hours ago
Fervence - Hezekiah (Official Music Video)
FERVENCE
Bosh66· 13 hours ago
Fervence - The Silent Wall
FERVENCE
Bosh66· 13 hours ago
Fervence - Corrosion (Visualizer)
FERVENCE
Bosh66· 13 hours ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed