Anyone who ever tried themselves at meditation knows what a Sisyphean exercise it is. You do it to quiet your inner demons, and all that comes up during your sessions are your inner demons. Eventually, of course, you do get the hang of it and the desired effect slowly starts setting in, but there is no smooth sailing. Sooner or later, some long forgotten experience will come up, forcing you to deal with it. So why do it in the first place? Well, you’ve got to have some kind of coping mechanism for when the shit hits the fan in your life, preferably one that is not self-destructive. For an agnostic or atheist there is not much choice. Unless you’ve got money for a good therapist, meditation it is.
Culted’s new album Nous begins with instructions to a guided meditation. The instructions should create a calming atmosphere, but things turn foul quickly. Menacing vocals set it and continue as nasty, persistent whispering; a good representation of the inner demons talking. The title of the album’s first track is Lowest Class, its subject addiction and self-hatred. We are the lowest class. / You will never see us sober.
Addiction, death, inner struggle, the living dead are the album’s prevailing themes. The music is composed to mirror all of the above. Doom, with a blackened and an industrial component, with dragging tempos, low-tuned guitars and paranoid vocals. Phases of tumult and activity are mixed with moments of complete standstill and flickers of light.
Nous is the band’s third full-length and according to the press info “was born in turmoil after members of the band endured a period of extreme personal experiences, both psychological and physical. The creation process was informed by disease, death, and the resulting existential crises.”
The album cover, as well, is a striking representation of pain and suffering. It reminds you of the paintings of saints done by the masters of the Renaissance, but the grotesque figure adorning it looks more like one of the disfigured zombies from The Walking Dead. An undead, fallen saint.
I have been following Culted’s social media account since their last EP. Apart from the usual self-promotion, and in contrast to most bands, it offers some original thought, something that you will think about for longer than a nano second, something that you might actually remember. One of their more memorable posts was a quote by composer Iannis Xenakis commenting on the effect a piece of music should have on the audience: “The listener must be gripped and whether he likes it or not, drawn into the flight path of the sounds without special training being necessary. The sensual shock must be just as forceful as when one hears a clap of thunder or looks into a bottomless abyss.”
I agree with every aspect of the quote above. It’s a lofty goal, certainly, but it’s also something that helps separate the wheat from the chaff. Whether Nous achieves this lofty goal, every listener ultimately must decide on their own. I’d say Culted are definitely on the right path.
(8/10 Slavica)
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