Arson Cafe: Cult of Eibon - Black Flame Dominion

Sunday, October 17, 2021

Cult of Eibon - Black Flame Dominion

Release date: 29.10.2021
Genre: Black Metal
Location: Greece
Label: Iron Bonehead Productions
Listen: Youtube

Website: Facebook

While having started about six years ago, Cult of Eibon's line up consists of seasoned members who have had experience for a long time and with numerous projects in the Greek black metal scene. The band left a good mark with a couple of EPs back in 2016 and 2017, and the split release with Caedes Cruenta (who are closely related) in 2018 was also short but enjoyable, yet we were missing a more complete work until now. Black Flame Dominion features sharply colored artwork (as they did in their previous two releases) and eight tracks of clear textbook examples of this country's genre style.

As an album, and as many times as this has been said, Black Flame Dominion musically loiters in the 90's second wave as it was being realized in Greece, so much that apart from a relatively cleaner production, it wouldn't have been a surprise to see it materialize back then. The roots of earlier underground heavy metal are its basic characteristic, there's no frenetic blast beating, the compositions are more distinct and warmer than purely aggressive black metal, but it has its more furious moments nonetheless. Cult of Eibon's how to checklist has all the ticks filled, on how the guitars and drums are played, on the slight use of eerie keyboards here and there, on its introduction, the Lovecraftian references and the shrieked vocals, you know it if you have been following Greece's classic releases from three decades ago.

The record, in its forty minutes of length, does not get dull or more difficult to listen to at any moment. While Cult of Eibon don't throw any crazy tricks in, in fact they don't diverge from the common recipe at all, Black Flame Dominion is still quite enjoyable and with nice little transitions between its different parts. Guest musicians from the scene also take part in the album, especially in the more notable track "Phaesphoros", while I especially liked the synths in "Crossing the Stargate of Xitalu" and the fast-paced, self-titled song. For the fans of Greek black metal, Cult of Eibon is already a band within the radar and now their full length offer will seriously circulate around its target, it's a decent release with specific focus and no cockiness.

Tracklist:

1. The Fiery Pillars of Ninazu

2. Into the Realm of Na-Girt-A-Lu

3. The Dreamer and the Morning Star

4. Phaesphoros

5. Black Flame Dominion

6. Recollections from the Chthonian Empire

7. Crossing the Stargate of Xitalu

8. The Mournful Chime of Charon's Bell

Damage: 3/5 [Good]

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Reckoning

From all the hills came screams. A piece of sky beside the crescent sun was detaching. It was a loosened circle of evening sky, suddenly lighted from the back. It was an abrupt black body out of nowhere; it was a flat disk; it was almost over the sun. That is when there were screams. At once this disk of sky slid over the sun like a lid. The sky snapped over the sun like a lens cover. The hatch in the brain slammed. Abruptly it was dark night, on the land and in the sky. In the night sky was a tiny ring of light. The hole where the sun belongs is very small. A thin ring of light marked its place. There was no sound. The eyes dried, the arteries drained, the lungs hushed. There was no world. We were the world’s dead people rotating and orbiting around and around, embedded in the planet’s crust, while the earth rolled down. Our minds were light-years distant, forgetful of almost everything.