It’s not as if Seattle-based Cystic are complete unknowns. Anyone who’s heard the progression from their 2018 demo The Last Days through their two 2020 EPs Sworn Enemy of Life and Incineration Rites will remember their name. But their forthcoming debut album Palace of Shadows is still a big step forward, and the fact that the respected Mexican label Chaos Records is releasing it is a big flashing sign of that, before you even hear a note.

It’s no wonder they attracted that alliance. Cystic have tapped into old black veins of particularly grisly and gruesome death metal, but the blood they’ve drawn feels bursting with (horrid) life. They’ve proven a precocious and monstrous mastery of the kind of death metal that’s hideous and horrific, dank and dismal, and altogether thrilling. In listening you can almost imagine the stench of gangrene and rot, and also envision the rapid scything of illness through swaths of helpless humans and the ravenous ripping and tearing of demon hordes — and who doesn’t want that?

We’re sure happy to have it, and also happy that you don’t have to take our word for why the record is so strong — because we now have a second single to bring you today, the fitting name of which is “Pestilential Throne“. But for those who might have missed it, let’s begin with the first single from the album, “Core of the Maelström“. Continue reading »