Karkosa - Esoterrorcult

The men of Karkosa are heretics, and they’ve arrived to drag you deep into hell with their album Esoterrorcult. The hellbound effort begins with the album cover — a black and white image featuring Baphomet and death’s head skulls and the slaughtered lamb of god. The Marys, both Virgin and Magdalene, appear as if in classic composition at the foot of the featured image, their faces deadened and beautiful. The least blasphemous depiction on the album art is that of a pentagram. Karkosa and the title have been applied in tattered gold leaf.

The wordplay of the title is not unlike their chameleon style. If one is tasked with categorizing a thing, one must, but categories seem most empty when that-which-is-many-things defies them. And you’ll come up particularly empty if you need this album to nest neatly within any particular denomination. The name of the album itself tells you that Karkosa expect not many people are going to understand or appreciate what they’re doing.

What is this? Blackened-death? Deathened-black? As much as purity of style has its place, orthodoxy gets old [ask our friend and dark Lord, Lucifer]. Karkosa provides a liminal space: between earth and hell, between occult and the profane. Though, if you’re a dogmatic metal listener, this lack of fealty to one Lord may offend you. I love living between worlds. Call me untrue.

And Karkosa have no desire to apologize for who they are, my orthodox friends, whether you are entrenched musically or otherwise. As they growl proudly on the last track, Angelus Ejectiones, a dangerous and thrilling tail at the back end of this blackened beast: “YOU’RE NOT SAVED; YOU’RE CURSED.”

They’re tarnished metal chameleons, Karkosa, and hidden from the light they describe something terrible to us from their shadowy vantage. Is it our dark Lord, himself? The black metal buzz of guitar lets us see the skeleton of the horrible thing. The bones crunch upon approach with precision drumming and flying chord chunks, which are often juxtaposed by more melodic progressions and vocal punches that let us see the silhouette of the horror. The terror thus described menaces us by means of these changes in pace and style.

I hear Nergal in the dominant vocals, depending on which Behemoth era you choose. A rich selection of vocal stylings spread poisonously from that evil, near-perfect blackened scream. From a gutteral [thankfully] non-cookie-monster death growl to an operatic chorus to haunting spoken word sections, the vocals are crucial to the multifoliate shadows of this album.

The songwriting and performances are surprisingly melodic at times and often catchy in an almost impossible way. I think I could convert some people to heavier music with this album, and yet neither the songwriting nor the performance ever resort to tricks, despite the fact that they attempt a LOT of different shit.

The only such attempts that sound forced are the bits of glitch on the first track, Ensorcelled Spirits, and later on Cyclopian Gateway. When the glitch returns in Cyclopian Gateway, it does seem to integrate more seamlessly with the spirit of the song. In either case, I don’t love it, but nothing is perfect, not even our dark Lord. Allegedly, imperfection must be represented in any attempt at perfection, so all may be forgiven. Maybe.

Shattered Throne is as close to a legitimate blackened-death metal hit single as there may be. The guitars buzz. The scream of the vocals is hypnotic. The drums punish thoughts of dancing.

Axis Mundi is a dramatic, slow and dark beauty of an intermission featuring the caw of crows.

Remnants of Creation is properly brutal, featuring an eerie chord bend into blast beats and growls. Chaos reigns!

Angelus Ejectiones, the aforementioned final song on Esoterrorcult, ends with synths that slither in from under blast beats and worm into your head along with the fading chorus and an outro of chimes. It’s fitting the album ends with this successful gamble. In fact, I’d like to hear more synth within this music. If Karkosa want to be fully-realized heretics, black-clawed wings unfurled, I say give me more synth. I’m selfish that way. Their damnation isn’t mine.

All of this is to say, I expect more great music from these guys. What a fucking album.

I listened on Spotify, but I’m certain it’s featured on other streaming services and in other forms, depending on your music source preferences and ethics.

The album is up for purchase on Bandcamp for $6.66 and of course there are vinyl options, as well.

WHY YOU WILL: Checks all the blackened-death, deathened-black metal boxes. And then some. Reminds me of Behemoth at its best. They’re a fucking MONSTER lying-in-wait.

WHY YOU WON’T: Checks ALL the blackened-death, deathened-black metal boxes, ALL at the same time. A little schizophrenic, if you’re looking to scratch solely one particular itch.

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For more on Karkosa, visit the following links: Facebook | Spotify | Bandcamp