Skaphos – Cult of Uzura
Release Date: 9th May 2025
Label: Transcending Obscurity Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Blackened Death Metal, Death Metal.
FFO: Crypts of Despair, Behemoth, Belphegor, Morbid Angel, Dead Congregation, Temple of Baal, Ritualization.
Review By: Rick Farley
Skaphos, the French blackened death metal foursome, has released their third full length album Cult of Uzura via Transcending Obscurity Records on May 09, 2025. Comprised of Stephan Petitjean (guitars, vocals), Jeremy Tronyo (guitar, backing vocals), Theo Langlois (bass, backing vocals) and drummer Nathan Faure, their brand of death metal is dark, heavy, dissonant, and steeped in the aura of mysticism. Rhythmic guitar driven intensity with loads of atmospheric uniqueness that allows the band to maintain groove while still being spider veined with its guitar passages. Think Morbid Angel or Immolation with a lot of blackened death metal influence similar to Behemoth. Not a far off comparison, but they don’t sound exactly like any of these bands. The brutality is furthered by a deep eeriness that’s present in the way the vocals are sometimes presented or the overall feel of the atmosphere. It’s a rather alarming tension that’s extremely hard to not feel like you’re being suffocated by the enervating dissonance and creepy ambience.
So, to get the complaining out of the way, there are a few problems I personally have with Cult of Uzura. Sitting at 50 minutes, 13 songs, I was fatigued by the end of the album. With thirteen tracks, one of which is an unnecessary acoustic instrumental, the record actually feels longer than its runtime. The other issue, which is sort of in a similar vein, there’s just too much of the same thing. By the time you reach track nine, you’ve basically heard the entire record. While the tracks are brutal and enjoyable, there’s only so much attention span in today’s listeners, and this far exceeds that. I kind of found myself wanting it to end sooner, which is a bummer because there’s nothing here that’s unlistenable.
This record is full of punishing storminess, sharpened guitars and gutturals that often veer to nasty, unique black metal screechiness. Full on drum assaulting and heavy as fuck low-end stomp all over your puny bones. Everything here works; however, this could easily be edited down to a 38-minute fucking beast that would be ten times more effective. This is my sole opinion that’s not based on the quality of the music itself. So, keep that in mind.
On that note, Cult of Uzura often fells like it’s a soundtrack for a serial killer. It’s deranged, pure, evil aggressiveness with the one goal of smashing your face in. It has a harshness that creates a difficult listen that extreme metalheads will appreciate. Skaphos as a blackened death metal band has a slightly different structural vibe to them, but also still feels familiar. There are hints of influences that you will be able to easily place, but won’t feel so similar that it becomes a clone of anything. Overall, I would definitely recommend this to listeners with a penchant for headbanging and wrecking shit for prolonged periods of time. Or if you’re unbothered by thirteen shorter tracks that are each similar in darkened, ruthless, gnarly death metal, you’ll probably love this.
(3 / 5)
