CULT OF ERINYES is a Black Metal band formed in Brussels, Belgium in 2009. “Metempsychosis” translates to “the supposed transmigration at death of the soul of a human being or animal into a new body of the same or a different species.” This is the band’s fifth full-length album, and it has two lengthy songs. “Death & the Voyage” is first. It opens with a lot of tension…a thickness that could be sliced with a sharp blade. What follows is quite harrowing, almost like your mind wandered into a vivid nightmare while you were still in the waking state. The music presents a paradox between those empty feelings of desperation, and the energetic feelings of hate and anger, and the two are locked in combat throughout the song. Towards the middle, the feelings of anger lessen, and are replaced by pensive thought, but like any transformation, they return with a vengeance.

“Eternity in a Second” has an equally torturous sound, marred with extreme moments of dissonance among the harsh vocal wails. The image that comes to my mind is a series of dark tunnels, buried deep beneath the earth, and something massive out there, chasing you. No matter how fast you run or where you turn, you can’t shake it, and with each growing minute, you have a heightened sense of your own doom. The intensity of the experience makes everything feel 10 times more pronounced, and even the slowed down parts hurt. For me, the main accomplishment of the album is how it maintains a tension that never lets up, and as a listener, you can’t help but feeling right on the edge of overloading your senses and wanting to jump into the deep abyss in order for it to go way. But, that’s exactly what the monster pulling the strings wants you to do.