Origin: Athens, Attica, Greece 🇬🇷
Genre: Black Metal
Now, as the equinox of rebirth is upon us and the fruits of Persephone drape the vine… As the Mediterranean tide shifts under Poseidon swells, and as the ever-fertile Greek black metal underground teems beneath the surface of what has always been the most romantic of scenes, Heretic Cult Redeemer are preparing an offering of epic proportions; hymns and rituals from ancient days… On April 21, “Flagellum Universalis” will be unveiled via III Damnation.
“Flagellum Universalis” is a religious experience: essentially classic, theatrical in the olde Greek way and artful to the core. But musically and spiritually on another plane; the most unreachable stretch of the spectrum wherefrom obscure yet transcendental projects such as Thy Darkened Shade, Gevurah and Lamp of Murmuur create some of the genre’s most elaborate music. With “Flagellum Universalis”, a compositional labyrinth awaits…
An album created in the spirit of chaos and unpredictability is “Flagellum Universalis”. And like the wolf as it runs its way through unfamiliar territory: adaptive and instinctually primed for each and every hot second of the hunt are Heretic Cult Redeemer. “Lunar Reign – Lunar Apogee” stirring up from the recesses of the primitive being a frantic yet honed sort of madness as haunting bellows and progressive but deranged guitar parts pulsate into a vast and celestial atmosphere. Absu worship and a disregard for anything considered to be fundamental or baser make the following track, “Intoxication Divine”, a very rich experience; one that taxes the palate heavily, and it’s not even one of the lengthier cuts on the album. It’s the perpetual and relentless nature of epics like “The Woven Chords of Ecstasy“ and “The Eye of the Saturnian Dawn” that represent the artistic identity of both the project and this album. Nothing too traditional about it aside from some subtle Taake and Kampfar vibes that surface from time to time out of what feels like a more rustic place. But mainly, “Flagellum Universalis” is a celebration of the Greek scene’s evolution from the simple character of the Golden Age of “The Passage to Arcturo” into what it is today – the most musically complex and spiritually diverse school of black metal the world has ever seen.
Expect to be ripped out from the drab world of orthodox, tremolo-riff and blast-beat-dominated BM into a realm where the word impossible has no meaning. Creative heights anew and elevated states of lunacy have been reached. The third coming of The Redeemer is nigh! Is your spirit prepared?
8.5/10
Experience “Grave Sophia – Breath of the Nightside” from “Flagellum Universalis” right here as presented by III Damnation:
~Jeger
