SAQRA'S CULT is a band from Belgium who creates some majestic, raw, semi-atmospheric Black Metal with lyrical themes and sounds that are influenced by ancient Incan culture. After a 2015 demo, they now have two full-length albums based on those denizens of Machu Picchu. This one is called "The 9th King" and a quick Google search reveals that the ninth ruler of the Incan Empire was none other than Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui (of course). A great warrior general who succeeded in kicking out the Chanca (yes, them) from Cuzco, this guy was such a badass that he named himself after the Incan word for "Reverser of the World." Also in the Incan language, a saqra is a trickster spirit, who is malevolent in an innocent kind of way. Anyway, I always appreciate metal bands that bring in historical themes, so we're already off to a great start.

The challenge is often how that theme comes across, especially when the culture is not famous for their music. You can choose to be wordy and expository (like EX-DEO for instance) or you can incorporate a lot of ancient instruments or sound design (NILE or perhaps any number of Folk Metal bands who approximate more of an idea of a culture than an actual one). As a Black Metal band with unintelligible lyrics (to these naked ears), SAQRA's CULT chooses to match the feeling of the ancient culture, using chanting and some extreme vocalizations, some ancient style instruments (though interestingly none on this new album), from Destroyer G., but mostly within the songwriting itself.

The title and opening track starts with an impressive minute of acapella shrieks, as if an Incan preacher is sermonizing from the top of a mountain. It's effective and introduces the track as if in a live setting. The song is regal in authority, much like Pachacuti himself. The band sounds tight, as most of them played together in a Blackened Thrash band called MALEFICENCE before this. Compared to their first album, this has a distinctly better produced sound, with more attention to the spacing and mastering of the music to create a more cohesive identity.

In the spirit of a Blackened Thrash or Death Metal band, the riffs are far fatter and played at a slower pace than your average Black Metal band. This is a good thing, and something that has come into vogue in recent years, with bands like TRIBULATION knocking on the door of the mainstream. The song "Legends of Pururaucas" takes on an almost Post Metal sound, with some nice twangy melodic guitar work from S. Iblis. Of course there are blast beats and moments of fury to be found here, but only enough to prove they can hang with the grimmest of them. Like on "Endless Devotion," which is a straight up blast fest, but punctuated by some real rocking melodic resolutions, giving the listener a breath before diving back in. The closing track and album highlight "Last Denial", which sees drummer Alkhöloïkh (haha) testing his limits and then some before the song switches gears about halfway and becomes a proggy jam with some cool snare delay effects, before jumping back into the maelstrom, all while underscoring the chanting/shrieking/moaning of Destroyer G. who by this point is completely off the reservation.

This is a fantastic modern Black Metal album, with some excellent organic sounding production that never becomes tiring. There are enough twists and turns and progressive elements to make this an extremely satisfying listen, even at 31 minutes in length and only four tracks. While you won't learn much about Pachacuti and the Incan culture here, you'll feel like you just witnessed some kind of human sacrifice. Can't beat that on a beautiful Sunday afternoon!<