...the Cult Still Lives.

«...the Cult Still Lives» is a concept album that can be described as a meditation on themes of paganism and its development from idolatry to being one of the most popular fantasy themes.

Events and characters depicted in this record are completely fictional. This album at any measure is NOT a scientific project although it's based on a studies of development of Norse mythology. Rather this is my way of expressing admiration for the ability of myths to stay relevant all the way through the ages and, on a more personal level, a good opportunity to close very important part of my life connected with slow heavy music and occultism on a high note.

So without further ado, our journey begins with...

...I. Prologue: «God of the Gaps» is the opening track that gives us the overview of the album's world. Events of «...the Cult Still Lives» are set in dark fantasy world with evil magicians, false prophets, witches, monsters and even dinosaurs. Moreover, some of the real world ethereal concepts like the titular God of the Gaps (a theological perspective in which gaps in scientific knowledge are taken to be evidence or proof of God's existence - wiki) in this universe become almost lovecraftian ancient deities ruling over this grim place instilling fear and demanding sacrifices.

But what's more important here we meet the narrator of the first part of the album's story and our first main hero...

...II. The Eternal Warrior or, as I call him, The Barbarian. He is a folk hero, an epos hero, more of the pure concept than a character or believable human being: strong silent type, a demigod fighting for what is right and getting revenge for what is wrong.

His musical motifs are rather simple (just like his personality) and standard to the doom/sludge genre: big slow guitar riffs, growling fuzzy bass, primal drums and little to none use of samples or electronic instruments.

But things started to change when our hero met the...

...IIIa. Wytch. Along with the development of myths (and society in general), heroes and gods alike began to gain more human features becoming more and more down-to-earth characters. Some become drunkards, some spawned a lot of naughty children (like Zeus) and so on.

But our once mighty hero spends the rest of his days in a despair under the thumb of his authoritative wife — a witch (presumably) spending all of her time going to sabbaths (allegedly).

IIIb. Häxan is an intermission part of Wytch revolving around slow sludgy riff, guitar solo and a sample from Coven's «Satanic Mass».

IVa. Technicolor Hell. Ah, here comes the end of the first part of our metanarrative journey. The Barbarian finds himself in some kind of weird BDSM sex dungeon where all the damage done to human body look just like in old Disney or Hanna / Barbera cartoons. This is an obvious metaphor for abusive relationships and The Barbarian losing his mind over a dull routine of his now-human life.

I wrote the main riff of this song somewhere around 2017-2018 so it wasn't planned for «...the Cult Still Lives» at first but it sounded just right to become a transition track between two logical parts of the release so I just couldn't left it out.

Also, here you can hear first electronic motifs and church organ never heard before on this record. So the old hero dies to let the new one arise!..

IVb. Rite of Passage. Here we meet the second main hero of our story — The Amazon. In this track she's still in her teens hunting some kind of mystical wild boar in the wood to learn an important lesson about life and death.

The Amazon isn't exactly a folk hero like The Barbarian. She's deeper and better written and meant to be an original character added to the mythology by the historians to keep the story consistent — just like Loki is believed by some to be added in Norse myths by Snorri Sturluson in his "Edda".

Her musical motifs are more eclectic and refined than The Barbarian's: guitars take less straightforward approach becoming strongly psychedelic and almost noise rock-y at the moments, synths come to the fore and overall sound becomes more produced, mainstream and clear.

V. Stonerosaurus: The Good Hunt. Intermission instrumental track that paints a picture of now grown up Amazon hunting down a giant dinosaur.

I see this track of some kind of metaphorical clash between two distinct musical styles of the album (and therefore two approaches to creating myths): sheer force of Stonerosaurus is represented by the primal guitar/drum motifs (just like The Barbarian, remember?) while cunning and agile Amazon is described by the avalanche of retro synths and stunning bass solo by Eugene of "60s Teen Club".

But this epic battle is interrupted by...

...VIa. The Death of Myth. Apocalypse! Armageddon! Ragnarök! Fictional world of «...the Cult Still Lives» is crumbling down and here we see the first signs of the ancient myth mixing with the modern culture — introduction of sci-fi perspective which is quite a popular trope in fantasy works of '70-'80's like Might & Magic, Ultima and even The Lord of the Rings according to some fans and researches. Pop culture not only take elements from its older counterpart but also puts a fresh spin on it.

At first I saw that part of the story as a "character vs. author" twist but decided to drop this idea as too pretentious and anticlimatic to be the ending of the story (yet this is still heavily implied).

People are leaving the dying planet on their spacehips while The Amazon is left to confront almighty ancient deities on her own. Of course, she fails. Our second hero dies along with the doomed planet...

...at least in the myth. Because in the modern age some big bosses decide to produce a saturday morning cartoon show based on The Barbarian and The Amazon characters from ancient epos. Thus our story has come full circle and the myths of the old became modern day superheroes — who, in fact, are contemporary mythological characters. The cult still lives.

We hear a lot of samples from obscure fantasy and sci-fi cartoons and «The Death of Myth» seamlessly turns into...

...VIb. «The Cult» Theme Song. Just a play on a theme of edgy '80-'90's cartoons opening tracks. There's not too much to say about it.

VII. Epilogue: «Blue Peacock». That song was written in 2021 and like «Technicolor Hell» wasn't intended for the album at first but I decided that shift from gloomy doom/psychedelic sound to almost surf rock-y album closer will be unexpected and somehow even funny. And once again like «Technicolor Hell» it's kinda more personal than the rest of the songs on the album.

«Blue Peacock» was a British tactical nuclear weapon project in the 1950s. The project's goal was to store a number of ten-kiloton nuclear land mines in Germany. A technical problem is that during winter, the temperature of buried devices can drop quickly, creating a possibility that the mechanisms of the mine will cease working due to low temperatures in the winter. One proposal suggested that live chickens would be sealed inside the casing, with a supply of food and water. - wiki

That track is about misery and suffering giving birth to something beatiful, about strong emotions helping people to express themselves through the art, about being creative against all odds. Like the birth of tragedy out of the spirit of music but vice versa. Like ancient gods and heroes trapped in the neverending cycle of death and ressurection on the pages of mythological books marked the beginning of the improtant part of modern pop culture.

Thanks for listening and reading.