The Black Map #176: Cyclops Cataract from Aberdeen!

Heading from Shrewsbury to Aberdeen for this week’s entry in our Black book of the UK Metal Underground scene that we like to call The Black Map, we turn our attentions to another one of the lesser lights of heaven in Cyclops Cataract. Having begun their work with a debut EP in “Swallow The World” that laid the foundations, nine months later they inked a deal in blood with Planet K Records for their debut full length album, a masterpiece of Avant Garde Black Metal with moments of Death, Grindcore and Cinematic music that deserves not only to be heard but to be celebrated. Entitled “The Bestiary”, it’s a concept record with each song depicting a different creature based on Scottish folklore and legend, from the Orcadian legends of the selkies in ‘Second Skin’ to the villainous redcap of the Southern borders in ‘Crimson Wrath’ and one that we compared to the critically acclaimed “Alphaville” by Imperial Triumphant in review because, put simply, it is that good. A collection of dark and twisted tales that could have been created by the brothers Grimm, it paints in shades of Black, bending the mind and pushing the boundaries of what constitutes Metal as the band tread their yellow brick road creating the kind of material that their peers are jealous of. As if that wasn’t enough, they’ve already started work on a sophomore effort while at the same time preparing to take the band into a live arena in search of converts to their cause…