ColdCell were founded in 2012 in Basel, Switzerland and released their first album, Generation Abomination, during the following year. ColdCell are rooted in the Swiss underground black metal scene and have always been eager to deliver dark and atmospheric live shows. And although drummer aW concurrently plays in Swiss icons Schammasch, ColdCell put forward their own unique approach that melds both old and new schools of black metal, making for a highly personal expression both timeless and modern. The impressions of the dark, eerie, and extreme are expressed within ColdCell's successive albums like Lowlife (2015), Those (2017), and The Greater Evil (2021). With their latest album, Age of Unreason, ColdCell now align with AOP Records and furthermore venture deeper into social abysses and explore the (un)reason of being. Their sound remains as challenging and unsettling as ever here, with equal emphasis placed on abyssal heft and ethereal atmosphere, slipstreaming violence and ominous trudge. While so many extreme metal albums trail off in a tide of unwavering familiarity, Age of Unreason reaches a crescendo at about the halfway point with Meaningless, which features bewitching guest vocals by Danish chanteuse Ines Brodbeck (aka INEZONA), and continues to spiral into cathartic delirium with the closing combo of Sink Our Souls and Discord. During these three tracks in particular, the emotional core of ColdCell is on dazzlingly display, darkly exploring those corridors of the soul few dare to tread. In 47 minutes, Age of Unreason rips asunder and rearranges the template of orthodox black metal.
