Cult of Occult are a French doom band and this is their fifth album.
It’s great to have towering Cult of Occult back. The last time they graced us with their malignant presence was on 2021’s Ruin, but now we have a brand new full album. I Have No Name contains 70 minutes of doomsludge horror. My, what a colossal entity Cult of Occult have spawned this time.
I Have No Name is a blackened sludge doom monster. It consists of four massive main songs, with a middle section of two smaller tracks. Of these two, I Have No Companion is my only real complaint about this record. As is frequently the case, it comes down to the spoken word/anguished voices on this track. They’re not performed poorly by any means, but the underlying music is actually really good and would have been far more potent without it. I almost expected the second small track – I Have no Tongue – to offer something similar, but this is a crushing pit of hopelessness, delivered by cascading waves of heaviness and depressive screams, which, in case you’re unsure, as a very good thing.
The bulk of the record consists of the remaining four songs. Cult of Occult are not messing around here. Mountains of murky black distortion float on caustic seas of loathing, as the pained vocals of an isolated voice scream and roar into the uncaring abyss. The songs on I Have No Name are long, punishing, and unforgiving.
This album is ridiculously grim, heavy, and oppressive. It’s utterly lightless and hopeless, sucking in positivity with all of the strength of unrestricted hatred and despair. It’s one giant foul hymn to malevolence, drenched in feedback and venom and delivered in the voice of endless madness. Bleak melody is used sparingly, adding chilling atmosphere and emotive lacerations to the album’s nightmare journey.
So there you have it. If you’re in the market for a hideously nasty continent-sized slab of doom and sludge, then I Have No Name is what you’re looking for. Cult of Occult have once again put on a masterclass of contemptuous, demoralising darkness.
Very highly recommended.
Wonderbox Metal 