OCCULTRA Summons a Neon-Cold Mythology on “Heart Of The Hunter” Album
With Heart Of The Hunter, Finnish electronic artist OCCULTRA delivers a fiercely imaginative and wildly cinematic album that pushes synthwave into darker, more ritualistic territory. The nine-track project stands as the pure expression of a one-man creative force from Kokkola, Finland, written, produced, and engineered entirely in OCCULTRA’s home studio. Drawing from the influence of GUNSHIP, Carpenter Brut, the strange magnetism of 80s horror, and occult symbolism, Heart Of The Hunter is less an album and more a descent into neon-lit madness, spiritual visions, and mythic storytelling.
At the center of this project is the keyword “Heart Of The Hunter,” a title that encapsulates the album’s pulse: fast, fiery, and unrestrained. The opening tracks immediately hurl listeners into a world where paranoia, coded rituals, and ancient gods collide with razor-edged analog synths. OCCULTRA’s production style leans into high-voltage chaos, thick basslines, serrated synth leads, and vocals that carry a dark, uncanny emotional weight. Yet even within this intensity, he carves out memorable melodies that anchor each track, ensuring the experience is both abrasive and hypnotic.
The title track, “Heart Of The Hunter,” stands out as the project’s adrenaline shot, fast, catchy, and intentionally overwhelming. “The Faster We Go,” the album’s longest track, stretches OCCULTRA’s storytelling into a more traditional lyrical space, offering a thrilling breakdown section that feels like a chase sequence through a digital underworld. Not all tracks stay in motion, however. “Gates of Doom” introduces a somber, reflective energy that deepens the album’s emotional range, grounding the chaos with moments of shadowed calm.
The album thrives on the surreal. OCCULTRA explores ideas of elite secrets, hallucinatory visions, stalkers, godlike entities, and even a supernatural love story involving a vampire. These concepts do not merely decorate the music; they shape the sonic world itself. Each track feels like a ritual, a coded transmission from a realm where retro-futurism and occult mysticism converge.
What makes Heart Of The Hunter significant is not just its sound but its authenticity. OCCULTRA is self-taught, shaping every detail himself, and that independence results in a project that feels untouched by commercial expectations. The album’s 32-minute runtime ensures it arrives with impact, makes its mark, and exits before its intensity overstays its welcome.
As OCCULTRA states, “I don’t just play music—I manifest it, raw, haunted, and unrestrained.” This ethos is audible in every second of Heart Of The Hunter, an album that transforms synthwave into something darker, stranger, and wholly its own. For listeners craving high-energy electronic music with cinematic depth and occult vibrance, OCCULTRA’s world is one worth entering and surviving.
