METALLIAN - Cultist

Manic Despair – 2022 - Awakening
Spiritual Atrophy - 2026 - Awakening

Members

Vocals

Cessation>>VANESSA GROSSBERNDT>>Cessation

Guitar

Vaaltovashe, Kings Rot>>Brodie Wylie>>Vaaltovashe, Kings Rot, Brodie Wylie - Chieftain>>JOE PACENTRILLI

Bass

Cessation>>VANESSA GROSSBERNDT>>Cessation

Drum

JIM PETIGO

History & Biography

This band was founded in Calgary, Canada in the summer of 2015. The original ideation had come from drummer Jim Petigo. Guitarist Mike G. and bassist Brecken S. were cofounders. Singer, and eventual bassist, Vanessa Grossberndt joined six months later. A self-titled demo came out in 2016, but the band went into hibernation as members left the group. The band regrouped and issued a demo called Cosmic Tomb in 2018 followed by a split with fellow Canadians Euthanized, entitled A Pact From The Grave, in 2019. Vanessa Grossberndt had also picked up the bass.

Cultist recorded its debut full-length album Manic Despair in 2020 and had Awakening issue it in 2022 several months after its independent release. Guitarist Joe Pacentrilli joined in 2021. The band had a rare concert booked for June of 2024, but cancelled when its guitarist was unavailable. Grossberndt's other band Cessation steppedin. Departed guitarist Brodie Wylie was on stage with Sorguinazia in 2025.

Cultist's sophomore album Spiritual Atrophy was slated for March 20, 2026. It was released through Awakening Records. There was a LP edition through Futhark Records.

Reviews

CULTIST - SPIRITUAL ATROPHY - AWAKENING
After a nice intro, the Cultist sinks its fangs into the listener with bottom-heavy riffing that is as hissy as is brutal. Not done yet, sharp riffs, including a couple of disharmonic ones, poke and jab at the ear, all of which constitute a marked contrast from the aforementioned intro, which ostensibly was the band's intention even if the intro runs a little longer than needed. The vocals are always brutal, but do vary their pitch occasionally. The band lists two singers so that may explain that. The occasional horrific vocal effect reminds one of Abysmal Whore's Marta Chiller. Not a ton of vocals are heard on the album though, presumably because Vanessa also handles the bass.

The band's violent, speedy/mid-paced and brutal vocation is the real thing and comparable to DVC, Monstrosity, early Gorguts and, above all, Incantation. The drum sound could be cleaner and the snare louder, but this somewhat hectic cacophony is probably part and parcel of the band's typhoon of death metal.

The mid-album instrumental Perversion Of Survival is a strange and useless interlude, but the rest of the album is earnest in its effect. It is nice how Reality Shaper starts in one channel for a moment. The song does exemplify how the album re-emphasizes the same riffs sometimes and the band would have done better to curb the repetitiveness. Perhaps the band's intention was to create a hypnotic effect. The solo is obviously influenced by Morbid Angel. The bass makes itself known on Ascension interweaving an Eastern-flavoured solo amidst the staccato onslaught. The title track is different. It is punkish and galloping most of the way through compared to its counterparts before ending on a doomy note and the sound of the bass.

This is appreciated meat and potatoes death metal. In a world riddled with so-called melodic death metal (cold fire), alternative metal (alternative to metal), nu metal (rap crap), symphonic metal (Alanis Morisette crooning in a corset), modern metal (mallcore but can't call it mallcore because everyone knows mallcore sucks), folk metal (as heard in the movie Avatar and your local renaissance fair), groove metal (which is surely in the heart) and contemporary metal (as metal as Fox News has news or foxes), Cultist is a breath of stinking heretic putrid foul air. Zero grace, zero finesse and a whole lot of what a true death metal fan wants (sorry, post alt modern contemporary symphonic groove 'metal' fans). - Ali "The Metallian"

Interviews

This is the real thing. This is the thing. Death metal. It is fast. It is heavy. It is brutal. It is not hip. A few people like it. More people do not like it. That is proof that the Spiritual Atrophy album, which was released by Awakening Records on March 20th, 2026, is exactly as described in this paragraph. Ali "The Metallian" got hold of drummer Jim Petigo to talk about the band and its new album - 25.04.2026

METALLIAN: Jim, thanks for your time. We are here following the release of Cultist's new album, Spiritual Atrophy. First, however, we really do not know enough about the band, so would you please fill us in including whether there is an explanation for the consistent member changes?
JIM: I was in Vancouver to see Bolt Thrower in 2015 and met up with some friends to have a few beers before the show. I mentioned I'd been practicing drums a lot recently, was looking to start a band and my friend Axis of Empty Chalice said, "You should talk to these guys sitting next to me," and introduced me to the other founding members, guitarist Mike and bassist Brecken, MG and BS as they respectively went by at the time. I said I had the name Cultist spinning around in my head and both of them had the same reaction.... "Fuck yeah. Let's form Cultist."
As far as the line-up changes, Mike and Brecken left because they had different goals by the end of 2016. Guitarist Brodie left in 2020 because he was in too many bands and had to give one up and, unfortunately, COVID had just started, which completely took the wind out the sails of one of his bands. Follow-up guitarist Joe left in 2022 because his heart wasn't in it by the end. So, my explanation for all of our line-up changes is that we just keep picking guitarists who get cold feet. Fortunately, Betzi is very much in it for the long haul.

METALLIAN: The Bolt Thrower show was the first meeting of the original Cultist.
JIM: We met through mutual friends. Their friends Axis and Gaunt - both were formerly in Euthanized and Axis is now in Empty Chalice - had moved from Calgary to Victoria and they went out to see Bolt Thrower just like I did.

METALLIAN: Interesting that Bolt Thrower had a female bassist like Cultist then. Speaking of which, does this mean that Vanessa Grossberndt is not an original member?

JIM: Correct, Vanessa isn’t a founding member. She joined about six months later when we decided we needed a vocalist. She was my old roommate’s girlfriend at the time and we’d been saying for years that we should jam sometime.

METALLIAN: Where did you find the latest recruit, guitarist and occasional singer Betzi Poitras?
JIM: A couple of months after Joe left, we made a social media post to audition guitarists and Betzi was the best of the three candidates.

METALLIAN: So, is the band being a trio a mere coincidence or the Cultist of the future also comprised of three members?
JIM: We've talked about potentially getting another guitarist and we're all open to the possibility, but it needs to be the right person. We've had enough line-up issues and don't want someone who's only gonna be around for six months before he gets cold feet.

METALLIAN: That makes sense. Perhaps then the question partly becomes, is there a goal with Cultist? In other words, does the band function with a long-term plan or do you take it one day at a time?
JIM: A bit of both. I'm in the middle of booking a Canadian tour and we'll see how that does before deciding if we'll go bigger than that.

METALLIAN: That's added incentive for supporters to attend the potential shows. When are you aiming to conduct the tour?
JIM: I’m trying to book it for the summer, I’m looking at dates for the end of July, beginning of August.

METALLIAN: Let's talk about the new and sophomore album, Spiritual Atrophy. Could you review it for us in your own words in two or three sentences?
JIM: Spiritual Atrophy is an intense, ferocious and eccentric display of both aggression and introspection. It showcases our unique songwriting choices and our chemistry of musicianship in equal measure. Lyrically, it's about our experiences and practices in occultism, following a loose rise and fall concept.

METALLIAN: Do you claim knowledge or practice of the esoteric arts?
JIM: I’m not as interested in performing ritual magic as I was about five years ago. I wouldn’t say I’ve entirely abandoned the practice, but I haven’t done any rituals in at least three years. That is partially where 'Spiritual Atrophy' came from as a title.

METALLIAN: How different is Spiritual Atrophy from your debut? More broadly, in your estimation, should a band's albums be distinct from one another?
JIM: I'd say it's noticeably simplified. Manic Despair had many detours and, as an album, took its time to breathe and walk around a bit. Spiritual Atrophy, by comparison, goes for the throat a lot more.
I wouldn't necessarily say that every album a band releases needs to be different because it's all about the approach. I absolutely love Motörhead, and they made a forty plus year career out of sticking to the tried and true Motörhead formula, and when they deviated from it, those albums were definitely not as good. Compare that to someone like Death, which was constantly evolving and shifting, and almost all of their albums are great. The Sound Of Perseverance is my least favourite album of theirs. Ultimately, it's all about what a band wants to do with its own approach.

METALLIAN: Here is a good time to ask how you connected with Awakening Records.
JIM: We released our debut album, Manic Despair, independently in February of 2022 and later that year, I think in April or May, Li from Awakening Records got in touch with us offering to do a larger release.

METALLIAN: Let's come back to the new release. The music is strong, no doubt. The album cover is not. Yet, perhaps it is not the cover; it's me. What am I looking at?
JIM: The cover art for Spiritual Atrophy is a photograph of personal sigils. We each chose one that we have used for rituals and molded them from metal. We all really liked it, but the larger response has been rather tepid, so you're probably right on this one (laughs).

METALLIAN: To be clear, the knights at Metallian Towers are always right. Still, here is a question that invites itself. Could you name a few cultists so we can compare notes on the definition of the word?
JIM: When I first met Mike and Brecken, we were talking about the name, and Mike asked if it was inspired by Warhammer 40000, more specifically Chaos Cultists. I'm a fan of the property so there was some subconscious inspiration. As for other cultists, I like to think of it in the classic sense of the word, as something closer to a member of a group who worships a pagan deity. You could just as easily interpret it as a member of the Church Of Scientology, though I prefer to go in the more mysterious and magical direction.

METALLIAN: It is always amusing how paradoxical names could be. The Church Of Scientology is one example. Babymetal anybody? Similarly, with a name like ours, perhaps Metallian could be a Korn, Creed or Nickelback fan site. While on that topic though, Jim, what are your thoughts on Jesus Christ?
JIM: The biblical Jesus Christ seems like an okay fella. I have my issues with some of his teachings. Buddy, yes I know, you’re the son of god, we get it, now could you please talk about something else? But if given the chance, I’d sit down and have a beer with him. His portrayal in certain sects of American Christianity is completely abominable and that particular Jesus Christ is one who I would like to see some Immolation lyrics enacted upon.

METALLIAN: For some reason I'd imagined that Jesus would have preferred a wine bar, but speaking of Americans, you are walking down the street and come across the American Cultist. How would the conversation go?
JIM: We’d talk shit to them; chirp ‘em a bit. We’d probably, tell those fuckin’ dweebs to beat it and get a different name, 'cause we had it first and we’re way cooler than some Christian deathcore bullshit.

METALLIAN: The good news is that they'd have to turn the other cheek. Having said that, and come to think of it, one must admit that those guys have the more appropriate and self-aware monicker. Closer to home, Cultist is from Calgary and so one has to ask: Thoughts on the Stampede?
JIM: The Stampede is alright, if that’s what you’re into. It doesn’t really hold much appeal to any of us, though. If I want to drink and party, I’m definitely not gonna do it by spending $12 for a regular can of Budweiser. If I want to buy overpriced merch, I’ll go see a big concert when it rolls through. If I want to go on rollercoasters and play Midway games, I’ll go to Callaway Park which is 15 minutes outside the city.

METALLIAN: I learnt several things from this answer: People drink American piss water at the Stampede and it's not exclusively about cruelty and torturing animals or supposedly grown adults exiting their homes and appearing in public, in the 21st century no less, in cowboy get-ups. And speaking of the 21st century, and modern tools, visiting your Bandcamp page shows the following information under the live activity category: May 2, Empire Live, Albany, NY and May 3, Calgary, AB. Unless you want to tell me that you are the more advanced kind of Star Trek fans, what is it that I am reading?
JIM: (Starts laughing) I’ve emailed Bandcamp’s tech support a few times about not mixing us up with the American Cultist, but there’s something screwy with their algorithm that gets us mixed up.

METALLIAN: That answers that. Finally, everybody has their own reason for agreeing that Metallian is the best website for metal, music, arts and more. What is your reason for agreeing with the consensus?
JIM: Metallian has truly earned its spot at the top. I’ve been reading Metallian for at least ten years now. I think I first found you guys in 2009, and I’ve been coming back at least once a week ever since. The internet fucking sucks now, and Metallian’s approach of “No Social, No Tracking, No Spying, No Friends” is one of the last bastions of the internet that I loved.

Cultist is Vanessa Grossberndt, Betzi Poitras and my interview partner Jim Petigo. The Awakening Records' page for the band is here. The aforementioned Bandcamp page is here.

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CULTIST