Swedish death metal is a trend that has
been repeated countless times and is yet to be manipulated and manifested by
more bands in the future. Although many acts simply copy the tasteful tone and
crunchy hardcore tinged incursions of Dismember, Grave, Grotesque or Entombed,
one cannot doubt that Puteraeon, a relatively young Swedish death metal band
are much more dominant over the genre’s aesthetics compared to their peers, as
they grasp the sound and deform it, mangling it into several pieces that are
not impervious to changes and queerer influences. This is, at least what seems
to be the case in their sophomore, ‘’Cult Cthulhu’’. They show that they’re
aplomb and open for new influences, although stricter fans will be happy to
know that experimentation is not overdosed, and massive, guitar with a spectral
touch of brooding melodies are still quite well working, pummelling their way
through the listener’s ears.
Compared to their debut, Puteraeon give
more room to cathartic expressions and melodies quadrants that form up most of
the diversity of the riffs. Awkward, but I relate them to Necrovation as both
bands had a change is sound after releasing one rather standard and eclectic
piece of Swedish death metal, simple, nonetheless still very strong by all
standards. Necrovation came through with a bigger and far more changed sound,
adding almost classical overtones into the heavy churning of hostile old school
death metal, while Puteraeon simply added subdued melodies under the hefty
cloak of chainsaw driven guitars and bass lines, and expanding their tone into
a more spacious one, to give off a nice dose of atmosphere. ‘’Necrovation’’,
which came out mere months before this album, worshipped ethereal pulchritude
and was musically tweaked a lot, but such a huge change is not seen on ‘’Cult
Cthulhu’’, although I still a huge sucker for its thickly embroidered spurts of
crushing hostility.
I’m simply very content with the release as
it did not turned out to be forty four minutes of chugs and furious barking,
but it turned out to be a much more intriguing bag of riffs that lasted forty
four minutes, propulsive and lurching. You’ll notice a semi-transparent black metal
tide flowing over you spectrally especially in ‘’Children Of Dagon’’, while
doomy goodness is laid upon absolutely gigantic magnifications of amplification
on ‘’The Great Epidemic of 1846’’ and ‘’Liberation’’, sweltering with epic and
atmospheric elements, but Puteraeon always make you feel home with classy,
chunky attacks from ‘’Flesh Architect’’ or ‘’In The Vault’’ – both as forceful
as robust iron hammers. I suppose some of the increased melodies and gloomy
aspects came from their increased love for Lovecraftian themes, and to be
honest, as a fan of the horror master himself, I found the fresh attributes to
be well placed. As a whole, ‘’Cult Cthulhu’’ redeems you from your lust for
massive guitars and filters, but it also offers it with slight distinctions, so
you’re bored to death. We have so many Swedish hounds now at hand that I
honestly don’t know where to keep them, so someone had better find a solution.
Highlights:
In The Vault
Flesh Architect
The Great Epidemic Of 1846
The Azathoth Cycle
Rating: 88%
