Album Type: Full-length
Date Released: 16/08/19
Label: Holy Roar Records
”Curse These Metal Hands” CD//DD//LP tracklist:
1.
High Spirits
2
The Pall
3.
Endeavour
4.
Sunday
The Review:
Pijn and Conjurer are both UK based, roughly
categorizable as sludgy post-metal/hardcore bands. Both are on Holy Roar Records' roster and released
impeccably strong albums last year, also making a collaboration appearance in
ArcTanGent, one of the most momentous and meaningful festivals focusing on
bands beyond the mainstream spectrum. The preparation and execution of said
performance also planted the seed for a joint studio album titled "Curse
These Metal Hands", released on August 16th, and with a release
like this, the bands succeed to set a potent and firm example of how
collaboration albums should sound.
Like
most of joint productions, this also looked fine on paper. After all, Conjurer's "Mire"
and Pijn's "Loss"
were amongst the most played albums in my household, as they were in so many
others too. I've stated this somewhere else too, but when it comes to
collaboration albums, they tend to be a hit or miss, with absolutely nothing in
between. But with "Curse These Metal Hands", there
wasn't a single reason to get cautious or worried about it. And there still
isn't.
The
pre-released track "High Spirits" opens up the album, and as
the name suggests, it'll elevate your spirit right from the beginning. Slowly
growing with clean guitars, tambourines and gentle drum hits, the song evolves
in an uplifting manner, keeping a surprisingly positive vibe going throughout.
After introducing strong dual vocals on top of a ridiculously heavy verse, the
atmosphere tightens but the tone remains warm and wholehearted.
Keeping
in mind both bands' previous albums, this one differs from them greatly, which
proves to make "Curse These Metal Hands" a justified,
multiplex entirety with it's own narrative. The second song "The
Pall" is mainly pulled together from similar realms, but instead
shifts the gear into a bleaker direction. The second track also deploys more
compositional dynamics, and there's parts where you can identify both bands'
own sounds, but everything blends together seamlessly. I personally also really
enjoy the writing on this one; albeit the track is almost nine minutes long,
there's a ton of different riffs and sections, different tones and colours.
It's so easy to build longer tracks over simpler and monotonous riffs that
start to feel numbing really soon, and it's really refreshing that this album
is bereft of the said approach.
The
third track "Endeavour" is a mountain-movingly heavy, crushing
two minute intermission. Vicious guitarwork and a constant triplet rhythm make
the track stand on it's own, given it's still a smaller piece amidst the three
gigantic tracks. What makes it shine through, is that while being in a minor
position, "Endeavour" is not a futile transition song. This is
often the case when an album is arranged like this, but that is yet another
pitfall that the bands avoid very smoothly. "Sunday" closes
the album with same emotion that the album started with. It's a consistent and
uplifting epic, rejoicing in almost happy melodies, shifting through strong and
soft passages until calling it a day for good. Structurally it's close to the
other longer tracks, including a sense of closure and finality, utilizing
tension in a very animate manner instead of being your run-of-the-mill
"funeral procession"-like closing track.
Simply
put, "Curse These Metal Hands" is an album that makes
you feel good. It manages to create an almost transcendentally comforting and
positive atmosphere without getting tacky at any point. That's also something a
lot of people (me included) didn't expect from bands whose output tends to be
from the more dismal and joyless end of the spectrum. "Curse These
Metal Hands" doesn't redefine any genres or brave a new one, but
it damn well exceeds in what it is set out to be; a perfect amalgamation of two
different bands coming together.
"Curse
These Metal Hands" is available HERE
