Sometimes you’ve gotta stay the course. Sometimes it pays off, but sometimes it bite’s ya. There’s always gonna be those releases that never quite sink in and keep you perplexed. Let’s dig into this one and try to unpack a bit.
Cursebreaker - EP 2024 (Self Released)
This is quite a ride. First off, I hate intros so much —just get to the real songs. And at two minutes, this one’s four times my suggested length. But, it covers so much ground that you can’t help locking in. It’s not just one mosh riff driven into the ground. There’s so many things going on in the intro that are normally deal breakers for me, but somehow they transition parts so often that it keeps me intrigued, wondering where it’ll go next. Once “Wretched Days” kicks in, I’m committing to the ride. VERY metal, but seems plausible that they’d be fans of 108 or Deadguy. Throughout this EP the majority of metal tropes that I hate pop up somewhere, but are done in such a tasteful manner that it never ruins it. The vocals are the deal maker, just intense shouting, no guttural growling, nothing cheesy. “Life Leech” is the highlight. Has some Tim Singer in the phrasing, maybe some Turmoil in the music? They break every rule in my hardcore handbook and somehow it works. There’s depth in the songwriting and their brevity is a major strength.