In honor of its release late last month, today The Sludgelord offers up a thorough, track-by-track breakdown of Oblique To All Paths from blackened doom derelicts, CULTED.
Oblique To All Paths is CULTED‘s second full-length and first recording in more than four long years. A musically and psychologically lacerating experience that traverses the many realms of societal breakdown, CULTED‘s unrelentingly grim and gristly take on doom is intriguingly suffocating and hauntingly demented. Said Revolver upon thorough investigation of the production, “From oppressive 19-minute opener ‘Brooding Hex’ to clanging, scattershot closer ‘Jeremiad,’ CULTED trudge a crooked, hellish road indeed. Like their spiritual and sonic forefathers in Khanate, Asunder, and Buried At Sea, their music is bleak, crushing, and decidedly off-kilter.” Adds Invisible Oranges earnestly, “What makes Oblique To All Paths remarkable is that none of the tricks being employed come off as cutesy or cheap. I’ve rarely heard an album with this many sharp turns that all manage to serve their songs. Industrial percussion, spoken word bits, and lengthy feedback swells populate some of the record’s finest moments. Better yet, these great diversions serve to make the more traditionally metal explorations, like the mid-tempo death metal riff that anchors the excellent ‘March of the Wolves,’ hit even harder.”
Sink deeper into the schizophrenic backbone of Oblique To All Paths at THIS LOCATION.
Forged in 2007, CULTED‘s background is distinctive: Four band members spread out over Sweden and Canada, having never performed music in the same room as an entire band, instead joining creative forces through the marvels of modern technology to compose wholly compelling, finely executed doom metal. Although the CULTED cooperative – Klassen, Matthew Friesen (guitar/bass/percussion/noise), Kevin Stevenson (drums) and Daniel Jansson (vocals/ambience) – have yet to speak to each other in real time, they unite in mind and spirit through their musical manifestations. A truly collaborative effort across international lines, CULTED‘s bleak and epic masterworks of dystopian doom serve as a true testament to their long-distance accomplishments.
Oblique To All Paths is out NOW on CD, 2xLP and digital formats via Relapse Records. Order your copy today at THIS LOCATION. iTunes purchasers should go HERE.
“…a mighty, scary band…hopefully their campaign of disaster lasts long into the future…” – MetalMeadMetal
“What makes Oblique To All Paths memorable is the complex manner in which CULTED infuse their titanic reverberating heaviness with hefty doses of ambient additions, noises, and synths, adding depth and dimension to the music.” – No Clean Singing
“…an ambitious and exhausting trek through frosty terrains of blackened doom metal, touched with noise and melody in equal measures.” – Cvlt Nation
“The bastard child of Sunn O))) and Khanate, conceived after a weird ritual in a forbidden cave, deep in the woods.” – The Sleeping Shaman
“A pleasingly unpleasant slice of doomish monstrousness to darken even the brightest of nights.” – Planet Mosh
“…the intense doom and craggly black sounds coalesce into something that references Celtic Frost as much as it does Swans.” – Exclaim
