Album review: UNAUSSPRECHLICHEN KULTEN – Baphomet Pan Shub-Niggurath

Iron Bonehead – Out Now.

If you were to ask me to name one good reason why I chose to review the third studio release of the Death Metal quartet Unaussprechlichen Kulten my response would be that I find the idea of a Chilean band adopting a fairly complicated Germanic name a very intriguing thing indeed.

I had absolutely no clue what the Santiago-based outfit was about prior to being given access to “Baphomet Pan Shub-Niggurath”, so you could say that when I finally decided to give the nine compositions on offer the first good spin, I did so with a clear head and an open mind.

The end result, though far from being described as innovative or original in nature, was reasonably appealing to me as the riffs and melodies on offer are massively influenced by those of band’s like Cannibal Corpse, Autopsy and Pestilence – band’s whose works, to this day, hold prominent position in my record/CD collection.

Deep Death Metal growls, heavy riffs, drum parts of various themes and tempos…all the ingredients needed to put together a decent Death Metal album are there. What was clearly missing, and hopefully will be addressed and dealt with in the band’s future releases as all the signs clearly suggest, is the ability to utilise and combine these elements in a way that will enable the members of Unaussprechlichen Kulten develop a style unique to them.

Following a short dark/futuristic into the album finally kicks off with “The Hooded Baphomet Bleated” – a slow Death Metal composition founded upon a generic riff that, though decent in execution, lacks the passion and energy needed to help the album build a healthy momentum.

Things improve significantly with the Cannibal Corpse influenced duet “La Recta Provincia” / “Yogge-Sothothe” while the truly inspiring “Ceremony Of Belial” to concludes the first part of the album through an array of Pestilence-influenced lead guitar passages and Jeff Hanneman (Slayer – R.I.P) styled solos.

The second half of the album may not fare as well in comparison, yet songs like “Kadath In The Cold Waste” are compositionally fairly promising indeed while both “Nomen Mysticum” and “Spirals Of Acrid Smoke” are reasonably entertaining affairs.

The three minute “Epilogie” is far from the ideal ending to the album but, by this stage, you are expected to already have decided whether you are willing to give “Baphomet Pan Shub-Niggurath” another chance or not, so no real harm is done.

As far as low budget underground Death Metal albums are concerned, “Baphomet Pan Shub-Niggurath” is one of the most reasonably sounding releases that I have come across in recent years.

Thought, thematically, the compositions on offer do become a tad predictable/generic at times, they still manage to create a feeling of warmth and familiarity for the average Death Metal fan to connect with and that is what will potentially make it an attractive proposition for the fans of the said scene.

John Stefanis

Rating: *** (3.0/5.0)

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