Band:	Kognitiv Tod
Album:	Eternal Return
Style:	Black metal
Release date:	May 29, 2016
A review by:	Auntie Sahar

01. Necrotic Moonlight Cajoling
02. Fake Dreams Dying
03. Primordial Seas
04. A Black Moth Flutters At Dusk
05. Aeons Chained And Starving: Without Rest
06. Green River Fog
07. Endless Desert Sustenance
08. Stylistic Infanticide
09. Now There's Only Me
10. Caves
11. The Future Ones

Psychedelic black metal. There's something about this bizarre union of genres that actually works a lot better than most would probably expect. Black metal, as hypnotizing and otherworldly as it often is, seems to be an almost ideal partner for the dreamlike realms of psilocybin, ego death, and spirit guardians. The inclination towards pushing boundaries in both genres has led to a pleasant diversity of sounds among psychedelic black metal bands, some very dark and chaotic, others embracing a more mellow, "floating" type feeling. Kognitiv Tod opts for the latter formula.

Kognitiv Tod is a one man effort, the result of dabblings into the realm of kvlt psychedelia from America's own Mitchell Pavow. Stylistically speaking, the band bears perhaps the strongest similarity to Horseback, in terms of its repetitious nature and how its fusion of black metal and psychedelia leans far more towards the latter. Some resemblance to Virus can also be picked up, with the employment of deliciously audible, funky bass lines. The project is certainly demonstrates uniqueness in its own right, however, both on tracks that attain more of a blend of black metal and psychedelia as well as those that lean more towards the latter.

Admittedly, Eternal Return, and indeed, the other albums from Kognitiv Tod as well, should probably be regarded more as a sort of "blackened psychedelic metal" than "psychedelic black metal." It's really the psychedelic rock aspect of the music that dominates, and the black metal influence is more subtly woven throughout it than anything else, with regards to the guitar tone and Pavow's vocals. The fusion between the two isn't necessarily as seamless as it can be with, say, Oranssi Pazuzu, or Wormlust. The psychedelic dominance is especially felt on the latter half of this album, composed of instrumentals that contain little to no black metal presence at all, feeling more like a psychedelic jam session one can just listen to and get lost in.

With Eternal Return, one could indeed complain about the inclination more towards psychedelic influence and a lack of significant delving into black metal territory on the album. But, as a huge fan of both black metal and psychedelic music, it's good to know that among the bands that combine the two there are those capable of balancing both out as well as those capable of going in one direction over the other. Sometimes with genre fusions, bands that let one ingredient dominate can be more interesting than those that feel as though they have to attain a 50/50 blend, and to this group, Kognitiv Tod is certainly a worthy addition.

Name your price on Bandcamp. Go show this underrated guy some love.