We already have a band called Cult Leader, so why not Cult Member? The latter is a fairly new addition to the world of crossover thrash, having formed in 2020, but they already have an EP and two full lengths under their belt. The most recent is Gore, a nine track, twenty-minute onslaught that spends just as much time hitting listeners with blackened thrash as it does thrash and hardcore, which makes sense given the group’s home country of Norway. It’s an album that flies by quickly and doesn’t give you much time to fully make sense of everything that the band has thrown at you, but that’s definitely part of the appeal and it’s clear they are starting to find an identity of their own.
Gore spends its first couple of tracks offering exactly what you’d expect from a crossover thrash band, as things fly by at a breakneck pace and they’re usually over in a minute and a half to two minutes. But Cult Member does make a strong first impression even if it’s a very familiar sound, as the intensity is at a truly high level all the way through and the instrumentals are precise in their attack. You get a good blend of speedy riffs and mid-tempo grooves initially, with the title track injecting just a bit of melody into the mix. But once you hit “Hammer to Crown” Cult Member pivots over to blackened thrash, keeping that hardcore and thrash edge but letting the icy black metal leads twist things into a more abrasive and different sound. This is expanded upon further on “Threat of Violence”, and there are a few other spots but the remaining tracks do head back into a bit more traditional territory. The blend of styles does give the group more of an identity compared to your average crossover act that’s doing a pure D.R.I. or Power Trip kind of sound, though given the brevity of the album there are still some songs that are hard to tell apart over repeat listens. I’m not saying that they have to double the length or anything, but it seems like there’s some room to shake things up even further in the future and let the black metal come out in unexpected ways.
You may get a good dose of blackened thrash to the instrumental work, but the vocals keep things firmly rooted in the crossover side of the spectrum with higher pitched yells and screams that don’t let up for the entirety of Gore. There are also plenty of gang vocals that keep the energy level at its peak, and a few backing vocals that are slightly lower in pitch. The title track in particular does a great job with this back and forth, as you have the very high pitched screams trade off with much gruffer vocals that sound like a cross between old-school hardcore and death metal. “The Void” is another great example of the highs and lows as well as the gang vocals, and this is an area where Cult Member is able to leave a lasting impression on listeners.
There’s still room for Cult Member to expand further upon their incorporation of black metal and fit it into their crossover thrash in ways that are genuinely unexpected, but I can’t deny that what they have to offer on their sophomore full length has drawn me back again and again. They nail the intensity of crossover and have a more precise and somewhat serious approach compared to the “party thrash” of decades past that hits hard and is very convincing. If they can shake things up just a bit more from song to song, album three could easily move from the very strong status of Gore to something truly on another level. Gore is available from Loyal Blood Records.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg