Metalcatto
Welcome back—it’s been one day! So let’s get into what the new year already has in store for us. If you were hoping for brutal and merciless blackened death metal, then today is your lucky day, because I’m here to show you what Shine have to offer with Wrathcult. An album with a promo campaign more pagan than an Edda Reddit thread. So prepare your spells and animal bones, because this is going to be one of those mythological trips—or at least I hope so.
Let’s be clear: if you like Belphegor or Behemoth (back when the band still had more to offer), then Wrathcult is exactly what you need. It’s as loud and heavy as the voices in your head whispering “what if?”, but infinitely more enjoyable. There’s a lot of love for European folklore here, to the point where I’d even dare to say there’s an oddly pan-European feeling running through the album. That might be in the imagery and themes, though, because the execution itself is mostly about riffs trying to split you in half. Lovely, right?
Consistency above everything else is what Wrathcult brings to the table. Shine clearly knows how to craft potent tracks that feel short despite having a fairly moderate runtime. There’s just so much going on in this hellhole of darkness, absolute despair, and paganism. Still, it’s a blast to have so many elements colliding at once, especially when they’re constantly trying to stab me more times than that weird kid at my old kindergarten. That said, it’s time to talk about the less epic aspects.
Consider this more of an observation than a heartless criticism, but Shine do something fairly expected within the boundaries of traditional Blackened Death Metal. The album is ridiculously consistent—almost to a fault. Some tracks can feel a bit too similar to one another. Sure, the last few songs introduce a stronger Folk dimension into Wrathcult, but the main action remains non-stop blasting. Combine that with the fact that this thing is louder than a Turkish traffic jam, and it becomes extra punishing for those who crave more dynamic range. Honestly, that last point alone is probably what’s going to make the snobs whine the most.
Either way, this is still an exciting trip into darker and more harrowing territory. Wrathcult, even with its stylistic limitations, manages to portray the dread of less enlightened but far more mysterious times with real conviction. It actually makes me slightly optimistic about the rest of the year. Maybe we’ll all have a better 2026—but no, no expectations. Those are the enemy of joy. Enough! Get this one if you love the hammer and the blast beats!
Label: Dark Descent Records
Release date: January 30, 2025
Website: https://www.facebook.com/shine.wrathcult/
Country: Poland
Score: 3.7/5.0 (I might come back to it later on!)
Metal Eclipse Reviews 