As the cult grows in exponent the charismatic wiles of its leadership must appropriately embiggen in rarified character. Whereas many amongst the ‘true’ are still flattened, mulching themselves beneath the dire circumstance of the endtime cometh Helsinki, Finland-based doom metal trio Cardinals Folly return for a sixth full-length album touting an unholier-than-thou heavy metal spirit within this latest spellsword tome. Beyond its clear-enough title ‘Live By The Sword‘ bears an uncanny boldness which we can only assume arrives by way of their fists deeply goring the depths of the dark arts, weilding hidden magickry as a now decade solid line-up. As they’ve extended their sphere of influence and reached a point of high confidence so has their songcraft become increasingly engaging, tuneful, and rife with its own recherché personality to the point that it not only isn’t being done by anyone else but couldn’t’ve been.

Technically formed circa 2004 Cardinals Folly is primarily attributable to one Count Karnstein who’d played in a couple of black metal bands until shifting all focus toward the then-named The Coven where he’d been bassist/vocalist and main songwriter since as far I as I can figure. The original style of the band wasn’t too uncommon of Finnish doom metal of the time, washed in fuzzier psychedelic drift and sluggish in the Reverend Bizarre way but not unrelated to Spiritus Mortis‘ legacy, both of which might’ve meant a wry sense of humor or a psychotic bent depending on the song. The peak of this sound in their hands was arguably their second album (‘Our Cult Continues!‘, 2014) before their sound began to move in its own clearer direction which they’d called psychotic doom metal and doomed heavy metal depending on the release. Album number four (‘Deranged Pagan Suns‘, 2017) was where I’d first taken serious notice of their sound as it’d hit a solid stride and the slower, at times more melodic follow-up (‘Defying the Righteous Ways‘, 2020), which I’d reviewed positively, would find the band increasingly sticking out like a sore thumb as many folks in traditional metal spheres took more interest in trends, such Dokken-style 80’s hard rock and gothic rock, in the meantime.

‘Live By The Sword‘ does a fine job of collecting the best of what Cardinals Folly have developed over the previous three releases and shoring their more vibrant, tunefully rocking side into a classic in feeling eight song ~40 minute heavy/doom metal record. The main notes I’d taken for this release ring louder still after well over thirty full listens but may nonetheless appear a awkwardly stated if you’ve no real tread lain upon the history of their sound. If I suggest this album is a bit more “heavy metal” with stronger surge of detail from guitarist Nordic Wrath that might appear too obvious if you’d missed the slower doldrums of the prior record (not to mention their first two LPs), and if I were to suggest they begin to overtake the ideal per Finnish traditional doom metal beyond a band like Lord Vicar that’ll be apples and oranges to the die-hard ear. Yet as we go on bathing in the pools of blood resultant of the full listen it’ll be hard to deny the creative melodic voice of the band blooming loud and the refined guitar work of the group reaching far beyond the slow-motion weirding of their not-so distant past.

Drown in lakes of blood! — From my point of view “Luciferian” says a lot of this up front with its mid-paced grind of a riff and the inspired lead-in, not exactly ‘Fear No Pain‘ just yet but on its heels for a moment and the escalating vocal harmonies of lead single “Priesthood Of Darkness” aren’t far behind in hammering this point home. The funeral march-in of intro “Life Eternal” and signature piece/opener “Ride or Die” get the point across quick enough beforehand, showcasing the mean sound of the guitars while striding into the anthemic opener as Karnstein begins narrating the piece with his entertaining range of vocal expression which might be crooning in a doom-apropos way to start but soon growls, and strains without reaching the derangement of an extreme metal vocalist but, only just. For the sake of brevity here I’d say Side A is obviously front-loaded with memorable and catchy pieces which aren’t even slightly divorced from their heavy metal underground ethos and unique voice. For those not yet initiated there is some expectation that Cardinals Folly can surely keep it going in the second half, there is good reason I consider this one of the best doom metal groups from Finland.

Personality is liquid gold when it comes to the best heavy metal music and Karnstein‘s presence continues to be what guides this band along an upscaling path of interest wherein dabbling in occult stories, the tension of thriller killers and dark fantasy literature keeps the lyrics juicing with their own “fun” yet fearsome energy beyond the Eldritch-admirer trips of groups like The Lamp of Thoth and such. Attaching melody and the occasional whip of extreme metal exaggerated rhythms (“Live By The Sword”) suits these themes in a grotesque yet subtle sort of fashion which should be most apparent to the classicist seeking variation. None of this’d be all that unusual or impressive if they didn’t ultimately seek to make memorable, heavy-assed music of it and another signature of this narrative comes to color in the endpoint of the record with “Ludovico”, a name which will begin to echo in mind each time its spongey overdriven riff plays in to start. I’d enjoyed this piece not only for the cleaner cadence of certain lines but for its effective use of repetition, created a unique enough point of interest that made the argument for the second half of the album being essential. This’d been compounded by one of the better pieces on the album the Reverend Bizarre-esque bravado of closer “Last Bastions of Doom“.

The full listen feels relentless in its ear-catching, riff scrounging, and crook-necked display which affords none of the lulling tides one’d expect to carry over from past releases and this is where the description “doomed heavy metal” fits best for ‘Live By The Sword‘. There are certainly some other great Finnish doom metal styled bands carrying on in this tradition here and there but in carving my way through their six album discography thus far a great argument has been made for Cardinals Folly standing out by their own inventive hand. This time around the appeal is a bit broader thanks to a more charged pace, more of a heavy metal stride and as such it is easier to recommend beyond the traditional doom metal obsessive. A high recommendation.

---