Death Cult 69 is the “new” project from duo Konstantin Michaely (vocals, guitar, organ) and Luc Lacroix (drums), both already involved in THE gothic-rock band Wisborg. They are joined by Fern Czar (backing vocals) and Marie Ko San (live organ). It's been almost four years since a few singles piqued our interest: gothic metal with organ all over the place, doomy heaviness, groove... Their debut album, The Way of All Flesh, is now available, full of dark, enticing promises.
A lot happened in 1969. Neil Armstrong had walked on the Moon, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination had come into force, the hippie movement was at its height at Woodstock before the dream began its downfall with the Altamont fiasco... and above all, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin were taking their first steps. This mixture of psychedelia and heavier darkness, when dreams give birth to nightmares, is well reflected in The Way of All Flesh. Michaely's highly invested performance flirts with an actor's act, summoning sulky memories of Type O Negative, while the organ lends a more retro, psychedelic tinge. There's a rather lazy way of presenting Death Cult 69: that warm voice, that mix of extreme and gothic influences, that sense of theatricality... Conveniently, this could be described as Moonspell-like, but with organ. The riffs are wicked, the occult ritual ambience convincing, and the occasional progressive temptations guarantee a few twists and turns: Hell on Earth sets a scene lit only by a few candles, while Michaely croons in it as if his life depended on it, and a few roars thicken the shadows. It's catchy, and we particularly appreciate the scent of mystery created by the encounter between doom heaviness and organ (the intro to 1969, menacing, opaque and exotic, the riffs that disturb the lamentations of We Are the Light). And it's in the roughness that Death Cult 69 avoids the feeling of repetition. Death metal, black metal and sludge influences regularly shake up the fog (the deep growl of Children of the Void, the aggressiveness of Death Finds a Way) and offer a response to the organ, which, for its part, guarantees the coherence of the whole by keeping us in this mystical haze.
Death Cult 69 are not afraid of excess, and play the grandiose and flamboyant card to the hilt, fully assuming their approach. The result is delightful, grandiloquent and biting, with just the right mix of overacting and nastiness. If you're looking to renew your “incantation in the dark” playlist, The Way of All Flesh should be just what you're looking for.
