Weekly album: Cult of Fire - मृत्यु का तापसी अनुध्यान

Cult of Fire - मृत्यु का तापसी अनुध्यान

2013 / Avant-garde black metal

1. संहार रक्त काली  

2. अस्तित्व की चिता पर  

3. शव साधना 

4. काली मां

5. मृत्यु ही सत्य है

6. मृत्यु का वीभत्स नृत्य

7. खण्ड मण्ड योग  

8. दिव्य प्रेम की ज्वाला से दग्ध

tp5170: For me there exist a couple of black metal albums that simply so good or possess so diverse style that they essentially stop being ‘just’ black metal and are something far greater, - something that I am almost tempted to recommend to anyone and not just people who are generally into black metal. I am referring here to releases such as Voice of Steel (Голос сталі) by Noktural Mortum and last year’s big surprise, Litourgiya by Batushka. Ascetic Meditations of Death / मृत्यु का तापसी अनुध्यान (which ever you prefer), is just on the verge of being a part of that list. 

The album contains eight tracks of Hinduism themed black metal played in a rather unorthodox style that keeps shifting steadily through the album so no track feels anything like the other ones.  In my mind the strength of Ascetic Meditation of Death largely comes from this variation and versatility between tracks, and the quality and depth there is to each track. 

I honestly have nothing bad to say about this one, so I’d highly recommend anyone with even the slightest interest towards the genre or anyone willing to try something new to give it a spin.  

Favourite track: काली मां

Orostider: In my Batushka post I wrote about mysticism and about how it is and always has been part of black metal. Cult of Fire belongs to the same group as Batushka, as both of them incorporate unorthodox elements to black metal, creating a result differing from pretty much every other black metal release. Although Cult of Fire's identities are known, their visual appearance supports their musical style magnificently. 

Whereas Batushka's foreign elements are traditional orthodox music and low tuned instruments, Cult of Fire grabs Hindi mythology and wraps it with the grim shroud of black metal. 'मृत्यु का तापसी अनुध्यान' is a sinister sounding ritual to honor Hindi gods, but it still manages to be surprisingly melodic and approachable. The reason for the approachability could be the album's production which is pretty modern and clean black metal production quality. Not too clean, but not lo-fi by any means. 

The most interesting part of 'मृत्यु का तापसी अनुध्यान' is its versatility in sound and mood. The complete change of mood from 'शव साधना' (the third song) to 'काली मां' (the fourth song) is a powerful move, but it might break the overall mood for some. The harsh vocals are sort of average and they deliver the fierce barrage pretty well, but the instrumentation and the clean vocals are done in such a great way that the harsh vocals may start to sound a bit dull from time to time. Nevertheless, the overall of the album is majestic and it offers a completely different take on black metal. For some reason 'मृत्यु का तापसी अनुध्यान' reminds a bit of Deathspell Omega, in a good way, and therefore I recommend this to everyone into unique black metal bands, like Deathspell Omega and Batushka.

Favourite track: 'शव साधना' 

Kattroll: The first chords of this album reminded me of ninjas, but when I looked at the squiggly letters I couldn't even guess where the band was from. Metallum revealed the band's country of origin to be Czech Republic, but the songs and the lyrics are based on Hindi mythology. The cover art also seems to follow the same road. Pretty interesting I'd say. 

Cult of Fire's genre was 'Epic black metal', at least according to Metallum, and it first sounded a bit suspicious. In the end, the genre is pretty fitting. Traditional black metal elements are present and they are identifiable, but otherwise the album is something completely different. The music isn't really gloomy, even though one of the lyrical themes seems to be 'darkness.' In some of the songs the eastern elements are clearly present and they mostly remind me of some arcane rituals, but otherwise the atmosphere is quite calm. This album is actually pretty comfortable to listen to, but I'm unsure if the album or the band impressed me enough to end up to my regular playlist. 

btcarey: After just listening to the first song off “मृत्यु का तापसी अनुध्यान” (“Ascetic Meditation of Death”) I instantly knew the remainder of the album would be a treat. Being completely new to Cult of Fire I had no expectations or preconceptions as to what was in store for me. Sure this weekly pick was courtesy of TP5170, which usually implies something epic, atmospheric, or black, but you never know when a fellow Evil Doer will throw a curve ball and catch you completely off guard (like some of Orostider’s picks…). To my relief this was not one of those cases and I really enjoyed Cult of Fire’s “Ascetic Meditation of Death”.

The album is an epic duality of chaos and harmony (at least musically speaking, I haven’t the slightest idea regarding lyrical content). Songs like “काली मां” (“Kālī mā”) and “दिव्य प्रेम की ज्वाला से दग्ध” (“Burned by the Flame of Divine Love”) are perfect examples of the lighter, more melodic, beauty of the album, while “संहार रक्त काली“ (“Black Blood Slaughter”) and “शव साधना” (“Silence Bodies”) delve into some of the darker, more destructive themes.

Where so many bands have failed in achieving this duality, Cult of Fire executes it seamlessly, with beauty and death meshed perfectly on each track. One of the ways the band achieves this balance is the incorporation of folk instruments (like sitar) and keyboards to an otherwise black metal landscape. The melodic passages of the clean instruments overlaying tremolo-picked guitar riffs augment the music’s depth, and give the album a fresh middle eastern vibe (as intended).

This is a solid album with some truly beautiful yet dark moments. I would recommend it to any fan of epic black metal or folk influence black metal.

Favorite Songs: “काली मां” (“Kālī mā”), “संहार रक्त काली“ (“Black Blood Slaughter”)