UMUR "Mara" is the debut full-length studio album by Reykjavík based, Icelandic death metal act Cult of Lilith. The album was released through Metal Blade Records in September 2020. Cult of Lilith was formed in 2015 by guitarist Daniel Thor Hannesson and vocalist Jon Haukur Petursson. They independently released the "Arkanum" EP in 2016, which attracted the attention of Metal Blade Records, who signed Cult of Lilith for the release of "Mara". Since the release of the EP Petursson has jumped ship, and Hannesson has built a five-piece lineup for the recording of "Mara". Cult of Lilith now appear more like a band, than a project. The lineup predominantly consists of Icelandic musicians, but new lead vocalist Mario Infantes Ávalos is from Spain, and his heritage actually has some impact on the music (more on that later).

Stylistically the material on "Mara" is technical death metal with the occasional nod towards progressive death metal. The music is generally very melodic, but also fast-paced, brutal, and features heavy grooves when that is called for. I´m reminded of as different artists as Gojira, Strapping Young Lad, Necrophagist, and The Black Dahlia Murder at various points throughout the release. Ávalos is a very versatile singer, and he both screams, snarls, growls, and sings clean vocals with great skill and conviction. He even adds some Spanish language lyrics to some of the tracks. It´s not the only latin music influence on the album as the track "Profeta Paloma" features an acoustic flamenco styled section with some spoken word Spanish on top.

"Mara" not only features intriguing songwriting, and top notch musicianship, it´s also a very well produced release, featuring a powerful, clear, and detailed sounding production, which suits the material perfectly. Being familiar with "Arkanum (2016)" I´m not surprised by the high quality of "Mara" and Cult of Lilith are definitely one of the more exciting new tech/prog death artists to appear in recent years, and "Mara" is not only a highly impressive debut album, it also shows great promise for what we may have in store on future releases. A 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.

UMUR "Arkanum" is an EP release by Reykjavík based, Icelandic death metal act Cult of Lilith. The EP was independently released in January 2016. Cult of Lilith was formed in 2015 by guitarist Daniel Thor Hannesson and vocalist Jon Haukur Petursson and "Arkanum" is their first release. "Arkanum" features a couple of guest performances. Most notably the drums on the EP are played by Infernal Poetry drummer Alessandro Vagnoni.

The music on the 5 track, 19:14 minutes long EP is sci-fi/fantasy themed technical/progressive death metal. In that respect I´m reminded of albums like "Crimson (1996)" by Edge of Sanity and the maybe a little less known "Dorval (1994)" by the Danes in Detest, but it´s mostly in atmosphere and overall theme, rather than musical style. Cult of Lilith are generally much more focused on technical playing than any of the two mentioned references. While the music certainly is technical in nature, "Arkanum" is not the type of release that sacrifices catchiness or brutal groove over technical noodling (take a listen to the closing minute of "Tomb of Sa'ir" for an example of a memorable hook). There´s also a nice organic touch to the playing, so there´s a good balance between technical precision playing and raw organic death metal brutality. The vocals vary between deep intelligible growls and high pitched blackened vocals.

The material on the EP is relatively varied, featuring tempo- and time signature changes, vocal variation, and both brutal and more atmospheric moments. Add to that a well playing band and a detailed and powerful sounding production and "Arkanum" is a high quality first release by Cult of Lilith. This is definitely an act who shows a lot of promise and a 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.