Album Review: Zealot Cult – Psalms Of Filth
Reviewed by Dan Phipps
Old School Death Metal done properly, that is exactly what I felt when I first heard Ireland’s Zealot Cult back in 2019, I was late discovering them following the release of their 2018 album Spiritual Sickness but the band did everything right when it came to writing awesome Death Metal. Fast forward 8 years and the 4 piece are now releasing the follow up to that superb album, and Psalms of Filth sees the light of day at the end of September covered in superb artwork and what I hoped was going to be full of riffs.
Opening with a melodic yet sinister intro piece Zealot Cult get right to business with an absolute no nonsense approach a punishing song takes shape from the end of the intro both guitars taking no prisoner and the drums offering a thunderous and powerful attack. This theme continues throughout Psalms of Filth both guitars spend the run length providing powerful old school death metal riffs which are as catchy as they are ferocious, tracks like Turned into Dust, Sadist and Nothing but Hate being prime examples but really the whole record you can find something that hits that point. The lead sections throughout complement the sheer force of the rhythm sections working exceptionally together.
The overall sound of this record is very solid, everything cutting through well within the mix really adding to the power of the tracks. Guitars both have their own distinctive sound making it possible to hear what both are doing perfectly. The bass adds the powerful force behind everything forward like a smack to the face, which is complimented by the drums, I really like the snare sound of the kit, not an overly obnoxious sounding snare but when the blasting sections hit that mixed with the thud of the kicks sounds like pure bliss. This record just sounds solid, clean yet not over produced or polished.
Psalms of Filth is exactly why you should never rush a release. Zealot Cult provided a serious follow up record and a collection of tracks that you could swear had come out of Morrisound in the 90’s. It has a collection of great riffs, it’s got powerful precision drumming and a great vocal delivery. This is old school death metal by old school death metal heads who understand how to craft great music.
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