Cult Of Lilith

"Necromechanical baroque", that is the province of Cult Of Lilith. A frantic collision of death metal, prog, complex classical structures and any other style they wish to incorporate, their debut album, Mara, is a restless, constantly shifting collection that is as imaginative as it is compulsive.

Founded in Reykjavik, Iceland in 2015 with Hannesson the sole member, the guitarist hired a session drummer and singer to create the Arkanum EP, going on to put together a full band that was cemented in 2018 with the addition of vocalist Mario Infantes Ávalos. Opening track "Cosmic Maelstrom" more than lives up to its name, kicking off with a harpsichord intro before exploding in a thousand different directions, while "Zangano" is brutality incarnate, a much more beautiful opening section heralding the arrival of "Atlas" before opening the door to crushing riffs. The agitated attack of "Profeta Paloma" unexpectedly gives way to an extended flamenco section, which is haunting.

It's unsurprising that a band of such musical depth and complexity would choose a name that is rich with multifaceted meaning, and that merits further exploration. "The mythology of Lilith is so deep and fascinating with so many different facets to it and interpretations from different sources that I found it to be the perfect subject of a cult, and therefore the name of our band," explains Hannesson. "She is interpreted in many different ways and she appears in a lot of different religions and mythologies, dating back to ancient Mesopotamia, Sumer and the Babylonian Talmud. She is even referenced as being Adam's first wife and the mother of Cain. Unwilling to be submissive to Adam, she abandons the upper heavens and descends willingly to Earth. In Hebrew tradition, she is seen as a daemoness that attacked babies, causing their untimely crib deaths, and in other texts she appears as a night demon that influences men in their dreams or as a disease bearing wind spirit, while one of my favorite mythologies of Lilith is that she comes in the wet dreams of men and begets bastard Nephilim children from them." However, when it came to titling the record, the band looked to their native language. "'Mara' stems from the Icelandic word Martröð or Nightmare," Hannesson says. "According to old folklore, Mara is a malicious entity that sits on people's chests while they sleep, bringing on nightmares. The myth of Mara shares some similarities with that of Lilith, and with the lyrical content seeming like an assortment of different dreams and nightmares. it made for a fitting title for the record."

Tracking was done at two studios: drums laid down at Dutch Ice Productions with renowned engineer Chris van der Valk (Hail of Bullets) with everything else recorded at Júlíusson's Krummafótur Studio. The results speak for themselves, and open a thrilling new chapter for a band helping establish Iceland's place on the extreme metal map.

• Mara (2020)