Album Review: CABAL - Magno Interitus

Danish 5-piece deathcore band Cabal have released their latest album Magno Interitus as their first release through Nuclear Blast Records. This album blends classic deathcore elements with OSDM, black metal, hardcore and djent elements, to create something extremely interesting and intricate for us to enjoy.

Release date: 21st October 2022 / Album length: 35 mins, 11 tracks.

Album art: Allan Kristiansen

FFO: Fit For An Autopsy, Gojira, Whitechapel.

The opening tracks If I Hang, Let Me Swing (track 1) and Insidious (track 2) set the tone nicely, for the rest of the album. Track 1 leads you in with eerie guitar tone and showcasing the first-class production of the album right from the start. This song hints at their incredible ability to blend musical styles, by featuring traditional death and black metal vocal styles with classic deathcore musicality. Track 2 offers all of this and more, intertwining Gojira-style guitar sweeps and some ever-welcome blast beats into the mix.

This album also features some groove metal elements, creating some very aurally pleasing tracks. The title track Magno Interitus (track 3) and Insatiable (track 5) demonstrate some warm, Jinjer-eqsque groove guitar tones and riffs. These are expertly blended with a mixed vocal style, some fun synthwave components and some stank-face inducing breakdowns. I would also like to note that I love the drum tone on this album, but Insatiable really showcases it nicely. The tracks Violent Ends (track 8) and Like Vultures (track 9) offer yet more groove influences, but with a heavier feel. Violent Ends opens with a FFAA style intro and treats us to a nice display of technical drumming, while Like Vultures is a bass heavy masterpiece – with punchy gatling gun bass drums, Orbit Culture style groove riffs and a satisfying atmospheric outtro.

Existance Ensnared (track 4) and Exit Wound (track 7) provide the listener with some penetrating guitars and drums which punctuate the music perfectly. Existance Ensnared has a compelling time signature and features an intriguing use of vocal FX, whereas Exit Wound displays a softer, more intricate drum style with some classic deathcore segments.

The two stand-out tracks on Magno Interitus are Blod af Mit (track 6) and Exsanguination (track 10). Blod af Mit is a surprising offering from this album, given that it is quite industrial compared to the other tracks. Some atmospheric sound FX and the hard, pounding rhythm gives the track an almost Marilyn Manson inspired feel. Exsanguination takes more influence from OSDM and features a classic death metal vocal style. High pitched synths float in the background and provide a good contrast to the guitars – the song also ends with an extremely heavy, headbang inducing outtro.

The eleventh and final track Plague Bringer rounds off the album in the same way it opened – by showcasing Cabal‘s masterful style-blending. There are aggressive death metal vocals, electronic/synth elements, groove-inspired guitars and a hi-hat embellished drum pattern that is extremely pleasing to the ear. All this is topped off with an immensely heavy outtro and some creepy, fading synths, to end this visceral and fascinating album.

Rating: 8/10