Insanity Cult "All Shall Return To Chaos" Cassette

Smoke/Clear tape, Gold on-body print, 3 Panel J-Card.

I have already mentioned it a few times but I am glad to repeat myself. Greece might have become THE country to watch out in the first place when looking for quality metal music. Another band I have never heard of before are Insanity Cult – a black metal band founded in 2011. They are a hard-working outfit with “All Shall Return to Chaos” being already full length number three.
Like it is the case with more or less each metal genre having its origins way back in the eighties there is little room left for innovation. There is a reason why some bands made big waves back then and have gained a lot of followers over the past decades. Insanity Cult are clever enough to pay tribute to some of the big names and chose a quite conservative approach of taking all the well-known single pieces putting them back together and enhancing them with a little bit of their own DNA to create something that sounds familiar but fresh at the same time. The classic tremolo lines are in full force and there are a lot of the typical epic and often melancholic melodies that we all know from the Scandinavian bands of the second wave of black metal. There are glimpses of the minimalistic and raw approach that used to define black metal in the beginning but also some bits that have a more laid-back and less adventurous feeling. Atmosphere is something that is important for each black metal outfit but Insanity Cult have put in additional effort to make sure that “All Shall Return to Chaos” presents an eerie and gloomy trip through dark soundscapes going to haunt the listener even once the record is finished.
The drumming is often very fast but there are enough sections in which the tempo is slowed down to give the listener a chance to breathe and enjoy the moody moments. Don’t get me wrong – this is still some hefty and aggressive metal music but you can clearly see that the members of Insanity Cult have put a lot of emphasis on writing nicely flowing songs with a lot of atmosphere. Things never get too hectic or chaotic and even in the speedier parts there are clearly identifiable patterns making the music even more enjoyable. The lead harmonies constantly dwelling in the background serve as melodic counterpart to the riff attacks and the blast-beat sections.
The vocals are desperate with the singer sounding like an ancient demon or a desperate soul lost in eternal darkness. The spot-on and intense delivery highlights the rawness of the music. The same can be said about the production which is filthy and natural-sounding yet clear and powerful and the fitting cover artwork. All in all “All Shall Return to Chaos” is a great example of traditional black metal slightly adopted for present times and one of my favorites in this genre for 2019.

Sample: