Waste Cult – Blame

Waste Cult
Blame
Label: Aesthetic Death
Out: June 6^th, 2025
Playing time: 45:52

Waste Cult hails from Bologna (Emilia-Romagna region, Italy). They were founded in 2021. The musicians have previously gained experience in other Rock and Metal projects. One year after their formation, they released their self-titled debut EP with four songs. Eight new songs were composed for their debut album ‘Blame’. According to press information, the songwriting was influenced by Doom classics as well as modern Post Metal sounds.

‘Ad Astra’ sounds dark but also dull and rumbling. Singer Frank has a hard time against this brute force. This continues on ‘Delirium Of Manners’. The balance between vocals and instruments is now a little better, but the dark Doom guitars continue to dominate. The title track ‘Blame’ starts off more quietly, but the guitars sound very distorted here too. Despite the subtle instrumentation, the low tones are emphasised once again. The vocals are slightly distorted and often accompanied only by individual guitar licks. On ‘Blended As One’, the guitars dominate from the start. Despite all the heaviness, things are quite calm here at first. But later on, the tempo increases slightly. The drums are mainly responsible for this. Although it is only three minutes long, the instrumental piece ‘Kerberos’ exudes an extremely dark atmosphere. With ‘Pictures’, I would be interested to know what images the musicians had in mind. Dark, disturbing apocalyptic paintings? ‘The Warmest Shelter’ also seems to be based on an apocalyptic drama. Here, the guitars sound particularly hard and dull, while the drums set a tempo that is quite fast for Doom standards. Surprisingly, ‘Maze’ starts with acoustic guitars. For about one minute, you think you are listening to a ballad. But then it’s no longer fun. The run through the labyrinth begins. You can almost physically feel the hectic pace and the fears.

‘Blame’ could actually be a good Doom Metal album. It exudes a lot of gloom and, at times, an apocalyptic atmosphere. Unfortunately, this clearly comes at the expense of the sound. As I mentioned at the beginning, it is dull. The songs rumble along. High-quality equipment is needed here. The vocals in particular seem a little lost against the force of the low tones.

Waste Cult – Blame: https://youtu.be/q40kDouXoU4?si=bP3CFfdcSrhTwPMz

Lineup:

Frank – Guitar, Vocals
Pilvia – Guitar
Noise – Bass
Claudio – Drums, Backing Vocals

Track list:

• Ad Astra
• Delirium Of Manners
• Blame
• Blended As One
• Kerberos
• Pictures
• The Warmest Shelter
• Maze