Genre: Ritual / Ambient / Fantasy Music
01 The Cult Of The Great Eye
02 The Cult Of The Dragon Maw
03 The Cult Of The Ysa'Ih
04 The Cult Of The Queen Of Heaven
05 The Cult Of Nudero
06 The Cult Of Mortalis
07 The Cult Of Helzichor
08 The Cult Of Azoot
09 The Cult Of Genohsa
10 The Cult Of Maelzeth
11 The Blood Cult Of The Nosferatu
In the beginning of this century, Za Frūmi started with their Saga. "Za Shum Ushatar Uglakh" was their first release in a row of albums to come. Relatively soon, in 2002, there appeared a different 'branch' of the music of Za Frūmi. The Saga tells stories from an Orcish perspective, and not less important, in Orcish. The new branch, called Legends, goes beyond and outside the Saga, and is music for stories happening in the world of Za Frūmi, but can not be told in the Saga. The first Legends album were, indeed, legends from the world of the Orcs. The second Legends album, Vampires, was completely focused on two vampirelords; Jakesh and Rianji. Now, with the third Legends album we are invited to rituals and ceremonies of several cults in the world of Za Frūmi.
The different cults in the world all have something in common, they worship their deity. The first cult we are hearing of is the cult of The Great Eye. It's a slow moving track with lots of whispered vocals. After around two minutes a tribal drum kicks in, elevating the ritual to a higher and more intense level. A true tribal feeling however is felt with the cult of The Dragon Maw. This dragon, known to the orcs as Za Gothbork (see the album Tach, track 6) is the centerpiece of it's cult, and the followers regularly use drugs and dance in ecstasy in front of the dragon's cave. It is this ritual you hear. The fearful cult of The Ysa'Ih are a bunch of mad followers, including blunt murderers and more delicate assasins. This piece of music is highly ritual, with the vocals continuously chanting the name of their deity. It's aggresive, hypnotic and impressive, and easily one of my favorite tracks on here.
The album ends with by far the longest track, which is on the worst cult in the land; The Blood Cult Of The Nosferatu. This is a truly dark cult, living underground, having pacts with the undead. 'They cut the throats of innocent children', the booklet says. The atmosphere of this track is simply frightening; a town is burning, children are crying, people are fighting. And the members of this cult are laughing, laughing at the pain of others. This is a cult of massacres, of pain, of liters and liters of blood.
Each and every cult featured on this album has its own rituals, its own ceremonies. They all have their own sound and atmosphere, but every single track on this album sounds excellent. Being a long follower of Za Frūmi, my opinion could be seen as biased, but Cults is another step forward in the blossoming story of Za Frūmi. This is an absolute must have for anyone familiar with their other albums. For everyone unknown with Za Frūmi, this is a good album to start with, preferably together with the Orders album. You will experience the atmosphere and see the infinite possibilities of future albums. I hope Za Frūmi will be among us for many many years, telling stories from their lands.
