Album Review: Puteraeon - Mountains Of Madness
Reviewed by Sam Jones
Whenever I find that Puteraeon have a new release on the horizon I’m always interested as I’ve found they’re one of those bands who are consistently churning out great material yet have still to break out to wider acclaim. Formed in 2008 out of Västra Götaland County, Sweden, Puteraeon are as death metal as they come and, throughout their discography, have shared a particular adoration for the works of H.P. Lovecraft. From their first Demos to their first album, 2011’s The Esoteric Order, to their 2012 Cult Cthulhu record to 2014’s The Crawling Chaos and their most recent record, 2020’s The Cthulhian Pulse: Call From The Dead City, the band have hardly shied away from what they feel is their calling to play and write metal about. Releasing their 2024 Quindecennial Horror last year, it was merely a prelude to their fifth full length work which brings us here today. Their second album to be distributed via Emanzipation Productions, their newest release is nothing less than a full-blown adaptation of Lovecraft’s legendary Mountains Of Madness tale from which this record acquires its namesake. The cover also features a much more striking art style with beautiful strokes of blue and borealis and an alteration to Puteraeon’s usual logo font as well. The band paint the record as perhaps their most mature work yet and given my equal love for cosmic horror, I was dying to check this out, and so can everyone else come it’s general release May 30th.
I love how it doesn’t open up with a full-fledged barrage of death and dismemberment, it elegantly unfurls its cosmic dread with a deft touch; the aggression is hiding beneath the surface but you can feel the ensuing despair preparing itself already as the band get things going. In addition, the near-absence of vocals to this opening really helps the album’s introduction feel much more cinematic, like the opening crawl to a television serial before we’re plunged headfirst into its runtime. When the band’s first real track does find its feet, they hit the floor running but its not to a tempo that will leave you scratching your head or pondering whereabouts the band have gone now. The band have seen to it you can follow them at every instance and thus when their songwriting unfolds, and the drums pick up intensity, and the vocals showcase a surprising degree of intelligibility, it pulls you in effortlessly, guaranteeing your engagement from start to finish.
Furthermore, what aids Puteraeon here in comparison to the myriad of Lovecraft-inspired bands and records, is the genuine respect applied to the source material. Veteran listeners of extreme meal will have experienced Lovecraftian themes and ideas a hundred times over, but what aids Puteraeon herein is how their performance really reflects the atmosphere and sonorous horror Lovecraft’s writings are revered for. We’ve encountered Lovecraftian metal that’s been racing, slowed to a crushing tone, but Puteraeon have absolutely nailed the vibe. Their riffs and collective songwriting are pummelling us but its never so violent that we can’t absorb the full soundscape. Even as the drums pick up ferocity you’ll feel like the mix effectively capped off the timbre to a certain level whereby the band feasibly cannot overwhelm you, for doing so would spoil the overall aesthetic they’re vying for. This record really is a story broke up into nine chapters, as opposed to just calling nine different tracks an album. Rather than using lovecraft’s writing as a tool to metal alone, you can tell Puteraeon are showcasing their ardent love for what is easily their prime subject matter for their music.
Though the band aren’t aspiring to be all-powerful with this record, I appreciate how the riffs and overall guitar work manage to exude this exquisite strength without it baring down on your shoulders at every given moment. Even at the band’s most ripping sections, their songwriting won’t escape you which ensures you’ll have a firm grasp on where they’re taking you. Their sound certainly fills the record with ease since riffs possess this fuzzy aftersound that coats the record like a woollen coat; you know the guitar work itself is shaped a certain way but you can’t help but feel the additional texture and warmth their performance brings. Moreover just because a track starts out with an explosive nature doesn’t mean that track’s tempo is exclusive; the band often change up how a track feels entirely and this is achieved by altering the tempo, lessening the general ferocity adhered by the riffs, which gives Puteraeon leeway to imbue their performance with more atmospheric immersion.
The pacing on the record is simply stellar as there’s never a moment when you might think “are they delivering something else now?” or “when does the next song start?”. Even throughout their longer pieces the band have done exceptional work ensuring our interest is constantly piqued, whether it be those changes in tempo or atmosphere or instrumentation (“Gods of Unhallowed Space” opens with this haunting piano piece). Throughout each track the band provide something to their songwriting that will encourage us to re listen to the track again or, better yet, check out the full album again. As aforementioned, this record is far from a straight bludgeon and thus knows when to step back and literally let the metal do the talking; put simply the vocals know when to cease and to allow the songwriting and atmospherics carry you along before they know the vocals are required again. Since we’re freed from a constant hammering to the senses, Mountains of Madness is more alleviating and merciful than most death metal records choose to be. It gives you the chance therefore to truly experience the record as the band intended it to be without your mind having to fight and tussle with everything otherwise thrown at it.
In conclusion, Mountains Of Madness is not only Puteraeon’s most mature release yet and their best work overall, but is potentially amongst the greatest applications of Lovecraft’s writing and legacy within extreme metal. This is an easily replayable album, not because you’ll feel to have missed something, but because you’ve received the full scope of their vision for the record and thus want to revisit it all over again. Puteraeon throw a great deal of strength into their record here but not so much that it starts overshadowing the purpose of Mountains Of Madness: telling the story. Allowing us the opportunity to listen closely to the vocals and atmospheric transformation from track to track the band apply something so rarely beheld in lovecraftian-inspired metal: restraint. It would have been easy for Puteraeon to go no holds barred with this record, yet the end result would have sharply different. By holding back in key places and giving emphasis towards the despairing, cosmic quality it allows their record to stand tall amongst death metal, even admits their own discography. As the record plays out its concluding minutes you’ll feel you’ve reached the climax of a grand journey but haven’t been sapped of energy so completely that you couldn’t restart the entire album there and then. Mountains Of Madness is testament to the notion that less really is more in some cases and when applying such an esteemed tale to death metal, a particular touch is required to bring it towards its fullest realisation. Puteraeon have done precisely that. An incredibly respectful, faithful adaptation of one of Cosmic Horror’s finest stories.
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