Black Curse – Burning in Celestial Poison

Few record labels are as consistent as Sepulchral Voice, churning out some of the best Extreme Metal of the past 2 decades to an eager crowd of metalheads in search of acts who have a decidedly old school ethos in their sound but also genuinely feel they push the boundaries of their craft, both musically and aesthetically. Amongst this repertoire is Black Curse, a relatively new band that gathers musicians from a wide cohort of well-known names like Spectral Voice, Khemmis and Primitive Man among others. Their 2020 debut ‘Endless Wound’ was a powerful demonstration of Black/Death that left many of us impressed and craving for more. After a steady wait, their new album ‘Burning in Celestial Poison’ has arrived, refining further what we saw previously.

The core of Black Curse is to deliver music that is at the crossroads of both Death and Black Metal, less focused on compartmentalizing into a neat and tidy definition and instead focusing on much more on delivering a devastating cauldron of influences that pushes the boundaries of extremity in a physical and metaphorical sense, which each member purported to have been driven to the point of exhaustion while recording their bits. In interviews, Black Curse have always been upfront that their songwriting process is one that emphasizes a more free-flow and improvisation as opposed to strict ideas of what the ranges are for each song. While this was already felt in the debut, ‘Burning in Celestial Poison’ amplifies this further with the whiplash nature of the songs. Everything is drenched in a thick layer of murkiness with every tremolo picked riff hitting like a spit of burning hot sulfur in the face.

There is a constant feeling of unease and intensity when listening to this album as from segways from slower, churning passages to chaotic blasting – courtesy of Zach Coleman. Even the vocal delivery feels totally deranged in nature. It feels like a lot of modern Death/Black treat vocals almost as an afterthought to the whole listening experience, but Eli Wendler is very masterful in the way he transitions from low-piercing shrieks to the deep gutturals he is known to belt out in Spectral Voice.

Sonically, while still very in line with the first album, there have been noticeable changes in two departments. One is with audio and mixing, as the band has continued to work with Arthur Rizk in his isolated studio. Everything sounds clearer than the rougher edges of ‘Endless Wound’, but without sacrificing the tenacity of the music or each individual component. The second is the marked increase of Black Metal influence. Comparisons may abound and I don’t want to claim the band is only influenced by a narrow range of artists, but I could help being reminded so many time of Katharsis throughout the passage of the album – particularly on tracks like ‘Trodden Flesh’ or the colossal finisher ‘Flowers of Gethsemane’. Yet I see these parallels less of a copycat and more an homage to the spirit of Katharsis themselves, who I feel share a very similar ethos as Black Curse; to deliver only the most uncompromising of Extreme Metal, pushing the boundaries of natural limits.

I don’t believe Black Curse will win over any adepts who weren’t already onboard with ‘Endless Wound’, but this is still a remarkable piece of abyssal Extreme Metal. It is a worthy continuation of what they were pursuing on their debut and you can feel the musical cohesion that exists between all the members. This is yet another worthy addition to the Sepulchral Voice catalogue, one that continues to impress to this day.