Review - Unaussprechlichen Kulten - Baphomet Pan Shub-Niggurath'

Unaussprechlichen Kulten - Baphomet Pan Shub-Niggurath (LP) (2014)  

Iron Bonehead Productions

Review by Trevor Proctor

Unaussprechlichen Kulten is a death metal band from Santiago Chile which has been active since 1999 although vocalist and guitarist Joseph Curwen is the only remaining original member with the rest of the band consisting of Butcher of Christ who joined in 2004 on drums, Nyarlathotep on guitars and Atomizer Pig on bass; both of whom joined the band in 2010.

Despite the longevity of the group Baphomet Pan Shub-Niggurath will only be the band’s third full length release which will be unleashed to the world by Iron Bonehead Productions on the 14^th of July - whilst this is their first album in six years they have released a number of recordings in the form of two splits, an EP and a demo during this six year period. Unaussprechlichen Kulten has steadily grown its cult-like following and fan base over the years and has shared stages with high profile groups such as Grave and Immolation in their homeland of Chile.

Unaussprechlichen Kulten gets its name from a fictional book of arcane literature featured within the Cthulu Mythos; it was first referred to as Nameless Cults by Conan the Barbarian creator Robert E Howard in his short story collections “The Children of the Night” and “The Black Stone” and later mentioned a number of times in several of H P Lovecraft’s stories – within the Cthulu Mythos it is believed Unaussprechliche Kulte was written by Friedrich Wilhelm von Junzt in Düsseldorf in 1839. The themes within the group’s previous releases refer heavily to the Cthulu Mythos and to use the term “Lovecraftian” with reference to them is something of an understatement. Unaussprechlichen Kulten’s pure occult and underground death metal style and themes continue on this new release which is a nine track, twenty nine minute journey through the depths of their murky, hellish world – a bastard, demonic creation that features numerous influences interspersed throughout their own hellish take on death metal.

There’s a brief intro to the album in the form of an eerie, ghost-like effect then it’s straight into second track The Hooded Baphomet Bleated which is one of the slower tracks on the album. There’s no need to give you a blow by blow, track by track account of the album - what we have here is very high quality death metal for those who appreciate and desire authenticity from death metal’s underground – my press release stated “by lifers, for lifers” and to me this perfectly sums up both the band and their music.

Unaussprechlichen Kulten pace themselves well, using each successive track on the first side of the album to methodically quicken the pace and brutality – they don’t blast you from the start with their authentic, underground death metal, instead choosing to build things slowly whilst subtly bringing you to the boiling point of all out death metal assault as and when they deem necessary. This constantly shifting pace is a measure of Unaussprechlichen Kulten’s experience; never sticking too rigidly to a tempo or level of heaviness for any period of time while each track draws you in further with Curwen’s growls matching and at times dictating the pace accordingly. 

The production throughout is perfectly suited to the music, it’s never too clean or clinical but at the same time it’s never too muffled or under-produced - the drums also feature nicely in the production mix; driving the band’s tempo and style whilst never drowning out the other instruments - at the forefront during build-ups but blending perfectly into the background during guitar led passages. Passion commitment and dedication are in abundance during this album - this is totally genuine, underground death metal of the highest standard, played by well experienced masters of the sub-genre.

I have referred to Iron Bonehead and the quality of their bands and releases many times before and yet again they have brought us a release worthy of both a place on their high quality roster and also within our vinyl collections - now it’s just the small matter of tracking down the band’s previous releases… 

Tracklist:

Side A:

I: Prologue

II: The Hooded Baphomet Bleated

III: La Recta Provincia

IV: Yogge-Sothothe

V: Ceremony of Belial

Side B:

 I: Kadath In The Cold Waste

II: Nomen Mysticum

III: Spirals of Acrid Smoke

IV: Epilogie.

Unaussprechlichen Kulten's  Baphomet Pan Shub-Niggurath LP is released by Iron Bonehead Productions on July 2014.