While having release two EP's in the years prior to this release, Sacrilegious Impalement bring us their first full-length effort, Cultus Nex. Issued through Hammer of Hate Records, Sacrilegious Impalement is the kind of Black Metal band you would expect, given the label's track record, playing material that sometimes can be haunting, but for the most part feels as if it were fueled by pure rage. But, is Cultus Nex a strong enough release for their debut album, especially given the time the band had to nurture their sound with their past two EP releases?
Cultus Nex is composed of eight tracks that are built solely around the traditional Finnish Black Metal sound, and focuses on both an angry sounding album, but a haunting, atmospheric release as well. The problem is, it's off and on with this album, and there never really seems to be any real moments on the release where the two styles actually become one. This is evident right at the very start of the album. "Arrival of the Forgotten Demons" showcases the band's ability to weave together some haunting, atmospheric Black Metal through a slow paced instrumental track that welcomes the listener to the nightmare perfectly. But, much of what makes this instrumental is that is mostly just slowly ringing out chords, as well as having them echo out just enough. The simple approach works well for these methods, though it does wind up becoming a bit boring after a while.
Once you make it past the mood-setting instrumental, "Total Annihilation" kicks in, which suits the title track nicely. This Black Metal track features some fantastic guitar work that resembles many Finnish-spawned Black Metalacts, bringing in a little hint of melody here and there with the guitars that shows some Death Metal influence in the mix, but not enough to say that it is a true combination of both styles. But, the problem is that the music actually seems to lack some bite. The overall volume of the recording is rather low to begin with, though the music is all mixed together nicely with the vocals standing out due to the layering and echo/distortion effects used, and the drumming is very consistant at hammering away at a fast pace, though often doesn't sound all that different from one song to another the more you go through the album, but the music just doesn't quite have that bite to it that will hook the listener outside of just being an album that seems to weave it's music to create a specific atmosphere, which is not as heavy as it appears on "Arrival of the Forgotten Demons".
The lack of bite could very well be from the rather stylish quality of the album, but it doesn't really seem like that could be the attributing flaw. Cultus Mex is definitely not a raw album by any means, and comes off as a top notch recording of the highest quality, and has a very clear sound to it that does seem to take away some of the bite to the music, but for the most part it just feels like the guitars are being clean, though they carry a signature Black Metal sound to them. The only thing that really seems missing from this equation would be some keyboards for added atmosphere. For the most part, the songs on this release are a mid-tempo to a faster pace, and it's solid Black Metal, it just doesn't really do anything to really hook the listener. Of course, the final track on the release, which is actually an "Untitled" bonus track, is a slower paced song that has a little more atmosphere to it, as well as some extra vocal effort with gutterals layered over the Black Metal wailing vocals.
While Cultus Nex isn't a genuinely bad album, it's just nothing that you haven't heard already with a sound that is just kinda bland. The music is solid and features tracks that stand tall in the latter second wave Black metal style, but there's no real bite or kick to the material, or even an energetic kick since the atmosphere is very thin through all but the first and last track of this release. Perhaps with a little more distortion and a less fancy production, this release could have worked out well, but instead seems to try to go into the epic route of many of today's more stylish Black Metal acts, but only falls due to it's rather common guitars, though the drumming was was well done and executed with a great deal of focus on the vocals.
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