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"Massive Cauldron of Chaos" is the sixth studio album by Norwegian black metal band 1349. It was released on September 29, 2014 through Season of Mist. The album marks a break in the usual trend for the band to release album artwork in a jet black colour, instead using white.
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In journeying through the cold sonic vaults of Massive Cauldron of Chaos, it seems evident that 1349 has found a nice groove within which to operate. "Cauldron" opens things up with the aural hellfire 1349 have come to define themselves by. A fuller, richer production is the first thing noticeable. The song is a trance-like ritual of marching riffs and yet it is just this side of catchy. That is to say, amid the chaos one can perceive the ice cold melody beneath. "Slaves", which the band has released first as a single, is an excellent song and not even the best the album has to offer. After Behemoth inundated us with the phrase, I never thought another band would choose 'slaves shall serve' as the tagline of a song ever again. In no way plagiarizing, the song does indeed stand on its own two cloven hooves. The clarity in 1349's production is on display here, as each instrument is clearly enunciated and furnished with ample room to breathe. The major players in black metal these days seem to have settled upon a very Moonfog Records/early 2000's era Satyricon/Thorns like sound, albeit with a greater emphasis on bass and treble levels. It sounds incredibly huge.
1349 may just have penned their most complete overall album, in terms of the realization of their sound since they began life back in 1997. Not as balls-to-the-wall hyper-fast nor as left-field bizarre as they've shown us in the past, Massive Cauldron of Chaos takes past elements and organizes them into a very musical, versatile effort that should earn 1349 a high degree of respect going forward.
Reviewed by Nicholas Franco for metalinjection.net.
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