A studio project founded by members of UK extremists Binah and Necrotize, The Solemn Curse seem hellbent on claiming the middle ground between purposeful sonic obscurity and the devastating thump of the best modern production polish. They do this via songs that exist within the black metal realm but with the pervasive presence of Covenant-era Morbid Angel and Zyklon’s futuristic death gasps adding fuel to the fire.
For such a pointedly underground endeavour, Gateways To Eternity thrums with pristine punch and precision, the disorientating filth that dominates its creators’ other projects rearing its head on occasion but never casting a shadow over a thrillingly direct and subtly grandiose collection of songs.
On the crazy-eyed pomp of Visible Light and Chaos Of The Normal, The Solemn Curse sound both wildly ambitious and avowedly mysterious, as bullish riffs churn and thud amid an elegantly constructed atmosphere of nihilistic unease. If this opening salvo is any indication, this low-key meeting of minds deserves to run and run.
