ALBUM REVIEW: Black Curse, "Endless Wound"

By: Josh McIntyre

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 24/04/2020

Label: Sepuchral Voice Records

“Endless Wound” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). Charnel Rift

2). Crowned in (Floral) Vice

3). Enraptured by Decay

4). Seared Eyes

5). Lifeless Sanctum

6). Endless Wound

7). Finality I Behold

The Review:

As soon as the record begins the listener is immediately assaulted with thick guitars and hammer blasts. Shortly after we get deep bellows of a mad monster. It feels like being picked up by an enormous creature and tossed around all while being yelled at. Maybe this is what it feels like to be dragged into Hell.

Black Curse is yet another member of the ridiculously brilliant death metal scene in Denver (Blood Incantation, Spectral Voice). Of the three bands Black Curse is easily the most violent. While tempo shifts are aplenty and there are dynamic shifts, they never really relent on just kicking your ass the entire time. The difference is that sometimes it feels like a barade of fists and other times more like being picked up and slammed.

It might be true that I just finished watching Attack on Titan and that is undoubtedly influencing my thoughts on this but the idea of death metal sounding like the sonic equal to being tossed around like a tiny doll by giants should be intriguing enough. Beyond the violence though, Black Curse knows how to write a riff that demands physical action of anyone at a live show there to move and even those notorious arm crossers will be undoubtedly making the stank face (you know the one). In short, its death metal you can mosh to as the grooves push the adrenaline up in a way that most bands can only dream of.

Tonally, it is solid at how it accomplishes a thick atmosphere like a bursting fire and the smoke it emits. When the guitars and bass sync up it’s an unstoppable force, especially as the drums pound with an incredibly loud snare. They’ll come in waves, sometimes dropping down to just a bass or guitar line just to be ravaging again in a few seconds later. There are parts that could be called guitar solos but they end up sounding more like bursts of noise, a fact that I appreciate. As good as the riffs are though, it is the diversity in the vocal department that keeps songs from becoming stale as they range from high rasps to deep gutturals and are a high point in the band’s sound all around.

The only real flaw here is that the record is so violent that its near 40 minutes time feels a bit exhausting to endure by the end of it. It is sort of a natural thing for this kind of music, for me anyways. It’s why few of my favorite grindcore albums are longer than half an hour. That isn’t to say that Black Curse is grind at all, only that they share a similar sense of sheer aggression.

Still, I really enjoy Black Curse as they currently exist. The band being so punishing sets them apart from their more atmospheric, methodic, and moody peers in Colorado and they simply do it better than most aggressive death metal bands in general. The genre in 2020 is mostly made up of expressive bands, in the mind and/or the fretboards, and those who look back to the 90s (take your pick of Demilich, Incantation, or Entombed worship). In the middle of this stands “Endless Wound” as an album that just wants to punch you in the mouth.

“Endless Wound” is available HERE

Band info: bandcamp

ALBUM REVIEW: Extremity, "Coffin Birth"

By: Daniel Jackson

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 20/07/2018

Label: 20 Buck Spin

To put out an album that stands out in what feels like a tidal wave of high quality releases is no small achievement, and the band should feel immense pride in what they’ve created here. This is mandatory listening.

‘Coffin Birth’ CD//LP//CS//DD track listing:

1. Coffin Birth / A Million Witches

2. Where Evil Dwells

3. Grave Mistake

4. Umbilicus

5. For Want of a Nail

6. Occision

7. Like Father like Son

8. Misbegotten / Coffin Death

The Review:

As seems to happen every so often, we’re in the midst of a gigantic death metal resurgence. Top notch albums are coming out from across the globe and the songwritings as good as it’s ever been. The added benefit this time around is that it isn’t all from one particular sub-style. In the past we’ve seen resurgences in early Incantation worship, Stockholm sweddeath, and others beyond. This time around, it just seems as though death metal as a whole is experiencing an uptick, with a number of bands putting it all together at the same time, across a range of styles.

In a way, Extremity embodies the entirety of death metal’s 2018 rebirth. The sonically massive recording, the inclusion of a wide range of influences, but all under death metal’s larger umbrella. As the album goes along, the songs invoke something familiar, but never outright worshipping a specific band. You’ll hear something that would feel at home on a Bolt Thrower album, or something that would feel at home on a Carnage or Unleashed album, and even early Death rears its head in some of the harmonized guitar leads. On ‘Coffin Birth’, Extremity takes all of these different sounds, and brings them together into a single, cohesive whole, and it fucking rules.

Each song on ‘Coffin Birth’ feels like a journey, rather than a compilation of great riffs. The band rarely ever dwell on the same idea for long, and each new place a song end up keeps the song interesting. Just looking at “For Want of a Nail” as an example: the song opens up with a lurching, climbing double kick section, before the tempo kicks up somewhat as twisting, limber riffs keep up with Aesop Dekker’s thrashy beat. After that, the song launches into an utterly crushing breakdown, in which Aesop Dekker’s masterful sense of groove and feel take center stage, the moment made all the more powerful by a breakdown riff that’s up there with “Master Butcher’s Apron” off of Carcass’ ‘Surgical Steel’, meaning it’s among the best of this decade. That’s not to mention the fantastic solo work that immediately follows, though I’m not certain which guitarist to credit Marissa Martinez-Hoadley or Shelby Lermo for it.

There’s so much going on in each and every song, and none of it ever feels forced, nor do the transitions ever feel unnatural. Each song is an ever-mutating creature unto itself and yet unified as one greater whole. ‘Coffin Birth’ is the work of musicians who’re at the height of their creative powers, standing out and claiming their own piece of an exceptional time in death metal history. To put out an album that stands out in what feels like a tidal wave of high quality releases is no small achievement, and the band should feel immense pride in what they’ve created here. This is mandatory listening.

‘Coffin Birth’ is available digitally on CD, LP, or Cassette here.

Band info: Facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Incantation - "Profane Nexus"

By: Ernesto Aguilar

Album Type: Full-length

Date Released: 11/08/2017

Label: Relapse Records

Incantation makes it clear this war is a take-no-prisoners affair. Hammering sound comes at you from all angles, until retreating just enough to let you see your fate. Then it is back in for more ground and pound. Incantation deserve a great deal of appreciation for "Profane Nexus." Alone, it is a superior release, one that represents the genre exceedingly well, with extra recognition given for the fact this band has been making death metal this excellent for so long.

“Profane Nexus” CD//DD//LP track listing

1. Muse

2. Rites of the Locust

3. Visceral Hexahedron

4. The Horns of Gefrin

5. Incorporeal Despair

6. Xipe Totec

7. Lus Sepulcri

8. Stormgate Convulsions from the Thunderous Shores of Infernal Realms Beyond the Grace of God

9. Messiah Nostrum

10. Omens to the Altar of Onyx

11. Ancients Arise

The Review:

What more can be said about a band that has been literally killing it for close to 30 years, 10 albums, four EPs and countless live shows? No one can seriously argue with that level of consistency, longevity and success. And though the world may try, is anyone on the Internet really going to offer any real critique of a pioneer of not just death metal but of tempo variation techniques now part of the extreme music canon? Really, you just can't, particularly when the group in question is Incantation.

Over the course of their history, the New York band has undoubtedly withstood the test of time and remained a respected voice in the game. In spite of lineup changes over the years and a new singer in the mid-2000s, Incantation has not missed much at all. With "Profane Nexus," the trio – Incantation adds members for its touring show – remains dense, explosive and unfaltering.

From the opening of "Profane Nexus," "Muse," Incantation makes it clear this war is a take-no-prisoners affair. Hammering sound comes at you from all angles, until retreating just enough to let you see your fate. Then it is back in for more ground and pound. Incantation is 20 times better than your other favorite band at creating the ambience of disquietude. The guitar work is abnormally coarse. The bass feels like a sledgehammer being dragged across the floor in your direction. The drums are the loudest dirge you may ever feel.

Among the album's highlights is "Messiah Nostrum" followed by "Omens to the Altar of Onyx." The pair of songs are absolutely pummeling. The lyrics add to the feeling of claustrophobia and fear. The introductory act to these, "Stormgate Convulsions from the Thunderous Shores of Infernal Realms Beyond the Grace of God," is atmospheric and instrumental, devoid of guitar or anything else that had since worn you down on "Profane Nexus." Such does not make the song any less effective, however.

Incantation deserve a great deal of appreciation for "Profane Nexus." Alone, it is a superior release, one that represents the genre exceedingly well. Extra recognition must be given for the fact this band has been making death metal this excellent for so long.

"Profane Nexus" is available here:

Band info: bandcamp || facebook