Cavus, Fester and Putrefy
Not knowing a damn thing about Finland’s Cavus, I was prepared for just another run-of-the-mill black metal album. Hell, even after the reverb filled intro “Sea of Tongues” I was ready to write off the band’s debut album, Fester & Putrefy.
Then “Fist of a Titan” started. It’s blackened death metal vibe and super lo-fi production pulled me in head first as the maniacally blasting drums and driving scuzzed out guitars carve the vocals deep into your soul. The menacing ferocity that this album presents is exactly what I want in a black metal album. Skip the symphonic elements. Skip the silly atmospheric lead-ins. Just give me the frenzied anti-everything aural attack that I want that I need. Cavus do just that in spades.
The rest of Fester & Putrefy continues along similar lines to that first explosion of destruction. There’s really not that much progression throughout the disc, but when you’re snapping neck tendons to lo-fi malevolence, you don’t really want anything more. Simple and to the point, Cavus delivers the good with a ferocious nature, skilled musicianship and a no-holds-barred respect to traditional black metal with leanings towards early Gorgoroth and Mayhem.
“Horns of Gold” is an all out attack with drums that just won’t quit and a sick guitar tone to accompany deep, guttural and shrieking vocals. “Death Rattle” starts off slowly before descending into a whirlwind of frantic drums and caustic riffs while “Eyeless Gaze” sees the drummer do his damnedest to destroy his kit before the band settles into a bit of a mid-tempo groove. “Scorched Flesh Ravaged Tongues” and “Worship and Rot” carry the malevolence to distorted extremes with more lo-fi mayhem as “The Sacred Profane” and “Possessed by the Devil’s Blood” slow things down a bit and inject a bit more structure instead of an all out blast.
When all is said and done, Fester & Putrefy ends up an unrelenting beast of an album. Cavus are a relatively young band, but if their debut effort is any indication, we should prepare for the Apocalypse when their next album comes around. I love the traditional, straightforward vibe the album carries as well as the lo-fidelity production it all comes together nicely in one ferocious package.