Death Metal Supergroup Black Curse Exceed the Sum of Their Parts on 'Endless Wound'

BY Brayden TurennePublished Apr 24, 2020

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The term "supergroup" is wholly fitting for Black Curse, made up of members from such heavyweights as Spectral Voice, Blood Incantation, Primitive Man and Khemmis. So what happens when you get these elites from all over the sound spectrum together? You get something that sounds like none and all of them at once.

Endless Wound is an exercise in ceaseless punishment that shoves you into unexpected territory just when you think you can predict where the band will go next. Merciless opener "Charnel Rift" displays this perfectly, with a sudden tempo change into a rampaging stomp that knocks you on your ass and buries you.

Somehow, every member and their respective bands seem to seep through into Black Curse's DNA, but intermingled and utilized in wholly surprising ways. It also allows us to hear members as we haven't before, namely Primitive Man's Jonathan Campos, who lays down consistently diverse and blood-boiling riffs, and Khemmis's Zach Coleman, whose drumming sways from OSDM punishment to bestial black metal spite. Both bassist Morris Kolontyrsky and guitarist/vocalist Eli Wendler seem to bring with them an aura of cosmic atmosphere from both Blood Incantation and Spectral Voice, though it is never more than a whisper of suggestion.

Among the chaos, it's Wendler's vocal performance that rises to the fore as Endless Wound's strongest element. Even fans of Wendler's previous work won't be prepared for the pure visceral breakdowns that occur on every track. Wendler's screeches and gutturals are further augmented with chokes and wet gibbering that do as much for the atmosphere as for the music itself. 

Endless Wound feels like a "we did it because we could" kind of project by some of the best musical minds at play in modern metal. The sheer lack of filler tracks is evidence that there was a good reason for these various madmen to converge and create Black Curse. And if they never release anything else, the magnificence of Endless Wound will make that truth hurt considerably.
(Sepulchral Voice)

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