Worship Metal Album of the Week – Jordablod – The Cabinet of Numinous Song

You’re traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. To an alternative universe where black metal was conceived in the 70’s and embraced by a legion of psych-addled progressive metal warriors intent on wielding their wares in as many ways as possible. Yes, you’ve entered….the Jordablod zone!

The follow up to 2017’s equally enjoyable Upon My Cremation Pyre picks up where that experimental slice of black metal tastiness left off and Jordablod have upped the ante in considerable style. “The Two Wings Of Becoming” plays out like a blackened sea-shanty, as jaunty as it is daunting and is a fine example of Jordablod’s strange brew of disparate elements. “Hin Onders Mystar” then begins life as a warming 70’s proto-doom track before all hell breaks loose and Jordablod again blur the lines between the past and the present. At times psychedelic but mostly hypnotically brutal, “Hin Onders Mystar” is an alarming indication of how esoteric this band really is.

The alluring piano-led intro to “The Beauty Of Every Wound” again offers warmth before a seismic riff straight out of the 70’s heavy metal rule book kicks you in the kidneys and positively demands you bob along to its insistent catchiness. Of course, blackened death metal vocals remind you that you’re actually listening to an extreme metal album but damn, if this is isn’t a catchy little fucker!

Finishing with the 8 minutes of “To Bleed Gold” is also a masterstroke, a contemplative yet devastatingly visceral experience which closes proceedings perfectly. The Cabinet of Numinous song may be a black metal album at heart….but it has more than its fair share of surprises up its billowing sleeve! 8/10

Jordablod
The Cabinet of Numinous Song
Iron Bonehead Productions
Released: 24th January, 2020