Blood Cult
We Who Walk Behind the Rows
4.4
I sincerely hope this is a joke band. Calling themselves ‘Redneck Black Metal’, Illinois’ Blood Cult purveys a sort of lo-fi horror/stoner–ish black metal with some off the wall stuff randomly thrown in. Black metal purists will hate the band's semi non-serious approach and will just cringe at the band's (intentional?) jabs at the more serious side of the scene while other less elite fans will be simply confused by Blood Cult’s unusual creativity that never quite manifests itself in memorable songs.
Armed with a decent, fuzzed out production and all manner of un-black metal quirks, the 8 tracks on We Who Walk Behind the Rows are a varied lot that never gets predictable, but that might be their downfall, especially with less open minded black metal fans. From the rock gait of “Psychic Vampire” and “Cheap Guitars”, through the (strangely enjoyable) piano outro off “Mowcaqua Coal Mine Disaster”, the competent blackened “A Blaze in Midwest Sky” style of the title track and “Cult in Blood”, the desperate chug of “Owl”, Blood Cult refuse to paint themselves into a bloody pentagram and seem content to rock the black metal boat. Still though, an off kilter approach doesn’t always mean ‘good’ as Blood Cult are hampered by a split personality that sees them flirt with the more serious side of things as seen on the aforementioned title track and “Blood Cult” and the down right silly (“Redneck Black Metal”, “Illinoisan Thunder”); a mix that won't resonate with any particular group of fans.
I applaud Blood Cult for trying something different and not taking themselves too seriously, but at 27 minutes with 8 songs, We Who Walk Behind the Rows feels like a gimmick EP, and throw in the jarring shifts from ‘real’ black metal to psychedelic fuzzed rock metal, the vocals that despite the style, stay singularly black metal (except “Cheap Guitars”), the album just doesn’t stick beyond somewhat of a novelty album.
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