Golem Dance Cult dropped a new single called “Call of the Wendigo”, taken from the album ‘Shamanic Faultlines’ which is out on Friday the 13th of June 2025. The track is everything we expect from these dark troubadours: filthy, raucous and reeking of shadow. It doesn’t waste any time: from the first thrumming riff, the track is noisy as hell, with a gargled vocal that drifts in and out like a barely controlled threat, and a thundering bass that forges its own fateful path. A pounding rhythm wracks the song from start to finish in an understated but hypnotic way: it’s claustrophobic in the best possible way. I love Golem Dance Cult, and they absolutely know how to set a mood.
The music video for the track is a black-and-white affair which matches the tone to a tee: grimy, weird, on the edge of surreal. It’s occasionally disorientating as you never really know what is an element of the performance, and what is simply to complement the theme of the song, which is the myth of the Wendigo itself: a creature that takes nourishment from fear and hunger. In line with that, a lot of the video is made up of quick cuts, glitch effects and flickering imagery which give the effect of a fever dream, or an eldritch vision from beyond. It’s not technically showy, but it’s effective: the band are masters of showing, not telling, and don’t need much by way of spectacle to sell the mood. It’s not like the video is telling you anything overt: rather, you’re made to feel like something is watching you at the edge of the frame. And that kind of tension doesn’t leave you when it’s over.
‘Shamanic Faultlines’ promises to be an exciting album, and the lead track for it bodes well. Tribal dread, spiritual invocation and feedback laced heavy alternative rock come together in a blend of something familiar, but with a fresh edge. It shows Golem Dance Cult will continue to branch out, explore, and challenge themselves without losing touch with their roots. In a press release they promise an album full of strange instruments, vocalists and loud, overbearing and daring production decisions. If they can continue to push into bold new territory with this approach, then they’re sure to take the underground of rock music far into the future.
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