The Cult of Dom Keller
Goodbye To The Light

I've been following these Midlands guys for many years, since the first moment they started making music (2007) or at least from the moment their name and music began to circulate on the world wide web. From that moment on, over the years, I've witnessed a continuous evolution and mutation of their sound and through the different productions, I have seen them take on an increasingly peculiar and personal character, always experimenting, trying to surpass every known boundary in making what I would define as good 'noise' and the typical obsessions of psychedelic music.

These guys are the Cult of Dom Keller, a band that I would practically define as a combination, a team of real alchemists dedicated to dissecting and remodulating every aspect of sound and what we generally define as noise. As for the latter aspect, well, if you've listened to their other records or perhaps seen them live, you already know, you can be sure they definitely know how to make noise. A lot of noise. They have an almost furious approach to music, something I feel I can compare to the desperate will of those who despair in scientific or philosophical speculation and the themes concerning life. Or that of those seeking to find meaning in all things, and particularly the meaning of life. The same desperate fury of those who want to create in every possible sense.

Away from this perspective, in the sense that there is no despair in their intent and they do not appear at all puzzled or worried about everything surrounding them, this band is now about to release their new album. 'Goodbye To The Light' will be released on July 15th via Fuzz Club Records, a label that, in this particular historical moment, is doing a lot of great work regarding the growth and spread of this type of sound made from a mix of droning modulations and psychedelic attitudes.

Dead Skeletons, A Place To Bury Strangers, Radar Men From The Moon… are all bands that we could somehow associate with the Cult Of Dom Keller. Unlike these, however, if we exclude an approach somewhat mystical and also typical of Dead Skeletons for example ('Astrum Argenteum', 'Bring Out the Dead'), the Cult of Dom Keller probably sound much more typically heavy-psych and authentically rock'n'roll. Not only that. They have a musical approach that we could define as somewhat dark, as if there were a desire to express some violence in playing. I read this story somewhere: while they were recording the first single of the upcoming album, 'Broken Arm Of God', in just one afternoon, they broke through three amplifiers and a preamp. All of this happened while, I quote faithfully, they were trying to 'sound like a volcano giving life to an atomic bomb.' Who knows, maybe in recording this album, they may have certainly spent more than they budgeted for and perhaps (I hope for them it’s not the case, of course) more than they will eventually manage to earn.

We talked about alchemy. It wasn't a random choice if we think about the fact that their intention was to sound like a volcano giving life to an atomic bomb. This band indeed tries to combine the force of nature with modern technology, thus mixing past and future. I thought of Greek mythology and mythology in general. Man, from the origins, has always looked at gods as if each of these had its own peculiar characteristics. There are obviously similarities in all ancient cultures, and this is clearly a sign that we all have a common origin, but without now wanting to delve into this type of scientific-evolutionary discourse, we can also consider this thing as a natural attitude of man to reason according to the same certain logics and in circumstances that could seem very different from each other. Hephaestus, the Greek god protector of blacksmiths and artisans, sculptors, and those who work with iron and metals, the god of fire and volcanoes. This deity probably has a counterpart in every ancient civilization. The ancient Romans called Hephaestus by the name Vulcan, and he lived inside Mount Etna, where he had his forge and made magical and divinely powered creations like mythological weapons and even metal automatons that acted as assistants during his workings.

Hephaestus is part of the culture of every possible civilization. He is more or less always described in the same way, lame and deformed from birth or due to his fall from Olympus. The other gods denied him and cast him out of Olympus, but he had his furious revenge. He dominated the elements, and since ancient times, he has guided the hand and strengthened the mind of those who use their strength to alter every type of element, without worrying about any damage and destruction that might derive from it, moving forward without any hesitation. Hephaestus has blessed the Cult of Dom Keller and their music when they used their destructive strength to break amplifiers and when they devastate everything surrounding them. Hephaestus is at their side and, with the help of his metal automatons, helps them alter every rule of physics until they find a new formula to play evocative psychedelic music ('Deepest Pit Of Emptiness', 'Exterminating Angels') and mix the elements to create a new kind of philosopher's stone that transforms matter into rock'n'roll music and mystic macumbas ('Shamhala Is On Fire').

Guided by the mighty arm of Hephaestus, the Cult of Dom Keller play their music as if they were hammering on an anvil and shattering it into thousands, millions, billions of fragmented and sparkling hallucinated visions of ancient deities intent on creating modern and invincible armor for the heroes of humanity's history, making you listen to heroic feats which traces have been lost over the centuries, throughout the centuries.