Self professed Redneck Black Metalers Blood Cult hammer out only their second album in their 15-year career, ‘We are the Cult of the Plains’. After being mainly a demo band until 2005’s limited release debut ‘We who walk through the Rows’, you can imagine the kind of sound these guys will be flogging. Sounding like an uber fuzzy Motorhead mashed up with a bit of Venom, a lot of alcohol and a book called ‘My first Solo’, all recorded in your basement with a tape recorder and you pretty much get the picture.

There is one shift between classic heavy metal and black metal, aptly shown on second track ‘Devil' s Sabbath’, which has more in common with Guns ‘N’ Roses and ZZ Top then it does with Marduk or Mayhem. And then it’s sterile 80’s rock for most of the remainder. I’ll be honest with you, I don’t think it really works that well. Fair play to them for mixing two styles that they obviously like, but I think it makes the music sound disjointed and really destroys any chance of building an atmosphere. Bits of it sound like Billy Idol with blast beats for fuck’s sake (‘Ludi Ceriales’)! And that just brings back awful memories of the Murderdolls that are best kept locked forever. And another thing, I thought long over blown solos that take up most of the song were a thing of the past that were universally recognised as being shite!? They make way too much of an appearances on this album. T

he thing is that there easily could have two separate albums here, one rock and one Black Metal, but it feels like its just been jammed together and doesn’t allow you to get lost in either. I think it is always good to remember that ‘cult band’ doesn’t automatically mean good band. Blood Cult are a prime example of retro Southern Rock that should have died out a long time ago, and definitely shouldn’t have tried to incorporate Black Metal into it’s grave of mundane wank. 

Carl Sucharyna Thomas