adg211288 The Deathcult pt. I: An Oath in Darkness is a 2012 EP release by Belgian death metal act Herfst. Herfst previously released their debut full-length album, Necrotica, in 2010 as well as a demo and another EP before that. The title presented here implies that The Deathcult will receive a second part at some point in the future. And judging by the quality of this first part, that is most definitely a good thing. The EP was mixed and mastered by none other than Dan Swanö, who has one of metal’s most impressive CV’s as both a performer and a producer.

Stylistically Herfst just about falls into the symphonic death metal sub-style with the most valid comparison out of the bigger names of the genre being Greece’s Septicflesh, although The Deathcult pt. I doesn’t go quite down the full on symphonic route of that band’s most recent effort The Great Mass, but it contains a similar kind of eerie atmosphere that will no doubt appeal to you if you enjoyed The Great Mass, or if you found The Great Mass just a bit too symphonic for your tastes, The Deathcult pt. I may be just what you’ve been looking for.

This is a five track EP, but Herfst have provided us with a respectable 30:07 running time across five songs. The first song is Prologue - An Oath in Darkness, which is an instrumental introduction featuring just the band’s dark symphonic side, which sets the stage for the kind of sound that will follow although it really does take until the third track in, The Thing in the Mirror, before it really becomes apparent that The Deathcult pt. I is primarily a death metal release as the second track, Tonight It Descends, is mainly carried by clean vocals, which are another feature of Herfst’s sound. Herfst have given us quite the varied listening experience with the EP, and they are clearly not afraid to experiment with their use of piano behind their death metal riffs and growling vocals and during the closing Code Noir they even bring a Sitar into the mix.

Herfst have proven to be a very creative band with The Deathcult pt. I and I cannot wait to hear what a future The Deathcult pt. II may bring to the table. This first part is an instantly satisfying experience and I honestly find it hard to believe the band is still unsigned. The Deathcult pt. I may be quite a dark sounding release but Herfst’s future sounds pretty bright to these ears.

90/100

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven (http://metaltube.freeforums.org))