INSANITY CULT is a Greek black metal band formed in 2011. They play a chaotic style of black metal with lyrical themes mostly based on nihilism. Although "All Shall Return to Chaos" is their third full-length release, it was the first album I heard from them. They tend to be as underground as possible, focusing on their own ideas, music, and lyrics. I only liked a few tracks in the first listen, but the more I played this release, the more it grew on me.

The album starts with "Within a Dissolving Stare", which is basically a 2-minute instrumental intro to the second track. The beast underneath the record is so villain that you can feel it from the very first second of the first track; he doesn't show any mercy. I couldn't think of any other proper way of starting such an album: chaotic, distressed, and insane. The lyrics of this album are mainly focused on the personal thoughts of the band members. The lyrics to "I, The Void" reveal the contradictory nature of a nihilist: "I, the Void walk; I, the Nil exist." Crazy guitar riffs and drum blast beats follow the lead of the lyricist in this journey to make you feel the misery running through their hearts.

Speaking of contradictions, the third track "To Dwell in Absence" takes you to the deepest part of your emotions. This is my second favourite track off this record. The vocal's voice fits the lyrics and the music pretty well; you can hear the screams of a hopeless man about all the contradictory aspects of his life. "Violence and tenderness were born together". Both musically and lyric-wise, "Through Self-Destruction and Stars" is my favourite song on "All Shall Return to Chaos". No matter how optimistic you are, "every night returns to the beginning" and your days are passing by in circles. For the pessimistic person who wrote the lyrics, these circles are nothing but empty cycles of life, "cradled in screams and nightmares". The drum work starting from the second minute (which continues throughout the song) is amazing and I love the bass crawling under angry, infectious guitars. Could you write something so sinister in a more beautiful and melancholic way? In the end, the song fades away, just like we do.

The last three songs form the B-side of the album. "Noose of the Black Moon", as its name suggests, is about killing yourself. This is the song of a man who feeds himself to the fire so he can free himself from the horror of "what has been left from" him. Forsaken, drowned into oblivion, in existence I sustain chaos. The sixth track "Of Dying Suns" continues the journey into a world where you are left only with nightmares and a sun so light that makes your eyelids bleed. You can hear beautiful guitar solos in this song.

The last track, "And All Shall Return to Chaos..." is the longest track on the album (11 minutes) and starts with the calm before the storm. The whole album is summarized in this track. In the lyrics of this track and several other ones you can see the phrase "so much water", but I'm not sure what it refers to. "Don't erase me. I once existed here. Chaos always shrouded me from the rain. Do you remember? So much water".

Overall, this is an excellent album which I will get back to for sure.