Doom Cult

After a demo, pair of EPs and a split, New Zealand's Diocletian has finally released their first full length album. Their previous material is of quality, displaying a brutal blend of war metal like Revenge and Blasphemy, and death metal like Bolt Thrower. "Doom Cult" is simply a continuation of their current path, with some of their strongest songs to date, as well as their most crushing recording.

The title track starts off the album, which originally was a track on their first demo. It sets the mood right away - bass heavy production, barbaric yet coherent riffs - total balls out metal. The vocals are strong, and it's cool that there are different vocalists involved. Both guitarists plus their live bassist contribute vocals, for a variety of low end vomits and some high end shrieks for added torture.

There are tons of really wicked riffs here. From fast tremolo picking ("Oath To Ruin"), to crushing Revenge-esque breakdowns ("The Iron Fist), to total punk parts ("Bullet Vomited"), Diocletian keeps things interesting and never gets boring. At 33 minutes in length, this thing will definitely rip you a new asshole. A couple surprises show up - "Werewolf Derelict" features lyrics penned by Pete Helmkamp (Order From Chaos), and the track "Antichrist Hammerfist" was written by Ryan Forster (Conqueror). Some may think it's a bit gimmicky, but the respective lyrics and song are right in place with Diocletian, so I think it comes across really well.

It's safe to say that Diocletian are headed in the right direction. They've taken that war metal sound and expanded it into a more coherent death metal territory, and as a result, have made it all the more effective. This will appeal to fans of old school death metal and war/black metal alike.