Saqra's Cult - The 9th King - review
Saqra's Cult - The 9th King - review
Tracklist
01. The 9th King02. Endless Devotion
03. Legends Of Pururaucas
04. Last Denial
A review by
nikarg February 26, 2019
The Dance of Saqra is one of the main performances during the Festival of the Virgen del Carmen and has its origins in the late 19th century in the province of Paucartambo, Cusco in Peru. "Saqra" means roguery, restlessness, agility or mischief in English and all that is reflected in a wonderful performance in honour of the Virgin. The mischievous Saqra dancers wear masks of animals such as pigs, bats, dogs and cats among others and this is all the background story you need to know in order to grasp the theme behind Saqra's Cult music.
The 9th King is the sophomore effort by this Belgian act with members that also take part in the band Maleficence. The cover artwork warns you about an occult black metal ritual that you are supposed to experience and, although it starts very promisingly with a capella screams and shrieks and howls that truly sound as though they are summoning the most unholy spirits, the rest of the album is more or less straight-forward black metal and you have to wait until the closer, "Last Denial", rewards you with some more shamanic and ghostly chanting. If this is your first encounter with Saqra's Cult and you are not familiar with their debut, Forgotten Rites, you'll be pleasantly surprised, but the truth is that The 9th King is missing a lot of the tribal and exotic sounds and elements that helped form its predecessor's uniqueness.
However, I don't want to convey that I am disappointed by the album because this is not the case at all. The quality of the songwriting remains quite high, with brilliant riffs, upsetting dissonance, intense chugging and a very convincing performance overall. The vocals are deranged and often layered, creating a terrifying atmosphere, which is complemented by some very inspired and thundering drumming with extensive and masterful use of cymbals. So, even though in its 30-minutes of runtime The 9th King doesn't sound as original and extraordinary as Forgotten Rites did, there is no denying that it is still a black metal release totally worth checking out.
If you are looking for preparation music before your ayahuasca ceremony, [url= https://amorfatiproductions.bandcamp.com/album/saqras-cult-the-9th-king]the Cult delivers[/url].
Comments
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Posts: 9626
CULTURAL APPROPRIATION! BOYCOTT
---- Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking One day there will be no heart at all?
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Posts: 5989 Written by RaduP on 26.02.2019 at 12:17 Best tell every non Sinosphere firearm owner to relinquish their weapons immediately, then. After all, the Chinese invented gunpowder
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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Posts: 5989
I've been seeing this album around though being recommended to me by people both here and elsewhere. Given the genre and the theme when I saw this on the front page I had originally thought it was Radu reviewing it 
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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Posts: 8254 Written by Auntie Sahar on 26.02.2019 at 14:08 The album will probably end up in my top-10 bm albums of the year but I still think their debut is better. Radu actually asked me to review it when I wrote something positive about it in the shoutbox and he even added the band in the database for me so... I had to do it. It's not easy to say no to this guy, he's very persistent, half of what I do for this site is because of his nagging
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Posts: 9626 Written by nikarg on 27.02.2019 at 02:40 Well then I ought not to feel guilty about it since it's all for the best
---- Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking One day there will be no heart at all?
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Finally got around to listening to this, pretty decent stuff. A little BTC-ish as well even, not just for the indigenous American theme but the rawness as well and the vocalist sounds quite a bit like Eduardo Ramirez.
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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Posts: 8254 Written by Auntie Sahar on 17.03.2019 at 14:48 You're probably going to like this one too 
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Posts: 5989 Written by nikarg on 17.03.2019 at 20:20 Yes, I saw you mention that in the SB earlier and noticed a comment on Youtube calling it "black ambient," so I'm definitely interested in checking it out. On my list for the upcoming week for sure 
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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