No two ways about it, this shit is terrifying Black Metal as it was meant to be presented: in a haunting display of magnificently uncomfortable, anxiety inducing foreign sounds. The purveyors of such unsettling filth, Black Death Cult, do so with six “WTF” tracks on Diaspora (Profound Lore). It’s a release in 2022 that could find familiar company just as well in the early nineties. Primitive production and unsavory wailing that inexplicably left the mouth of an actual human.
‘Bloodworms’ begins proceedings as a musical piece that lacks vocals or verses, instead opting to use distorted/muffled voices and cosmic-sounding somber compositions. It gets even more frightening because ‘River Of Death’ jump-scares you by assaulting your ear drums with screams of terror and vocalization from someone presumably being thrown down a well.
Black Death Cult does supplement the nightmare with actual, conventional music. The drum blasts on ‘Knights Of The Headless Order’ are fat and solid and ‘Inverse Moon’ descends into sounding like a live jam session with chugging guitars and smooth groove. The thing is, however, the music is merely secondary, and it’s more effective that way.
‘Neon Cross’ is a difficult pill to swallow. Janky synth notes mimic a sci-fi ray gun. The howling at the beginning is chilling and old-school, then a comically disturbing sound leads me to believe the band hired an actual troll.
Before finally delivering the finishing blow, ‘The Fractal Conspiracy’ continues the trend of haunting singing and features horror-movie sound effects.
Diaspora is not an easy listen. It’s uncomfortable. It nags at you. It’s that feeling of someone slowly coming up to you from behind as you walk faster and faster, hoping to make it home before you are forced to look back and confront what may or may not be waiting for you.
Noise this is not. BDC threw a lot into this, but not haphazardly. It’s music that transcends music and borders on the mesmerizing. And terrifying.
Buy the album here: https://blackdeathcult.bandcamp.com/album/diaspora
8 / 10
MATT COOK