Band:	Cult Leader
Album:	A Patient Man
Style:	Crust punk, Grindcore
Release date:	November 2018

01. I Am Healed
02. Curse Of Satisfaction
03. Isolation In The Land Of Milk & Honey
04. To: Achlys
05. A World Of Joy
06. Craft Of Mourning
07. Share My Pain
08. Aurum Reclusa
09. A Patient Man
10. The Broken Right Hand Of God

Not often do musicians who were involved in a well esteemed, high quality band that broke up go on to make music up to par with what they did previously after the fact. It's even less likely that they end up making music that surpasses what they did previously. Cult Leader stands today as an example of how such occurrences, while quite rare, still aren't entirely unheard of.

From the ashes of the riproaring Salt Lake City grindcore of Gaza came Cult Leader in 2013, featuring 3/4 of Gaza's final lineup and being as close to a spiritual successor to the band as any. 2018's A Patient Man, the sophomore effort from Cult Leader, continues the path set out by their debut of both tapping into the Gaza legacy while also moving beyond it into a new identity. With Casey Hansen and Michael Mason still handling drum and guitar duty, respectively, the bouncy, sludge-laced hardcore sound that made Gaza so goddamn fun is still more or less intact with Cult Leader, as the powerful opener "I Am Healed" demonstrates. But an added sense of melody and tempo manipulation at the right moments also makes this approach feel considerably different, more mature and multifaceted than what may have been touched upon previously in Gaza.

Violent sludgecore shenanigans aren't all Cult Leader are up to here, however. The band already showed a willingness to experiment with a more atmospheric and relaxed post metal delivery with their debut, but this aspect of their sound, as well as their ability to position it effectively amidst the rest of their chaos, seems to have really been perfected with A Patient Man. After the third track, listeners are treated to a far different mood with "To: Achlys" and "A World Of Joy," one that strips away the aggressive, riff driven delivery in favor of a far more dynamic angle that, while more restrained, is no less dark, brooding, and emotive. This technique is returned to on the final two tracks as well, but the more one listens to A Patient Man the more it becomes clear that Cult Leader took particular care to segue properly from one sound into the other. The shifts into the more ballady post sound from the barelling -core sound and vice versa always follow heavier or lighter moments on their preceding tracks that help to introduce them, making the transitions appear completely natural and not too abrupt.

A Patient Man offers many lessons to take note from. It shows how musicians can effectively start a new band that, while taking a clear influence from what they did previously, also crafts an entirely new persona instead of merely nostalgically rehashing the glory days. It also shows how broad the understanding of "heavy" can be for music, as the lighter side of the album may not be heavy in a violent, assertive sense, but it sure as hell is in an emotional and mesmerizing sense. This is a definite year end highlight for fans of -core, post metal, or just diverse, well paced listening experiences in general.

If you've been being patient, an early holidays reward comes for thee.