_________________________________________________________________________ | . . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | , | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | > | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ` | ' | | | ' | | ` | ' | ' | ___|___|___|___|_______|_______|___|___|_______|___|_______|_______|_______|___ \______________________________________|______________________________________/ / \ | Artist..: War Curse | >-----------------------------------------------------------------------------< | Album...: Confession | >-----------------------------------------------------------------------------< | Genre...: Metal | Label...: Blacklight Media | | Year....: 2023 | Cat.No..: | >-----------------------------------------------------------------------------< | R.date..: 2023-10-19 | S.date..: 2023-10-20 | >-----------------------------------------------------------------------------< | Source..: WEB (24bit) | Encoder.: libFLAC | | Bitrate.: 1713kbps avg. | F.Rate..: 44.1kHz | >-----------------------------------------------------------------------------< | http://open.qobuz.com/album/n89ttj4hyx5kc | >-----------------------------------------------------------------------------< | Disc 1 / 1 | | -------- | | | | 01. The Nothing (That is Me) 5:06 | | 02. Fortress of Agony 3:24 | | 03. Confession 4:07 | | 04. Miracle Broker 3:19 | | 05. Power of the Powerless 4:45 | | 06. The Convoy 5:13 | | 07. Return to Dust 4:49 | | 08. Sowing Division 4:20 | | 09. Rusty Nail 3:26 | | 10. Illusion of Choice 4:27 | | | | | | --------------------- | | (552.27MB) 00:42:56 | >-----------------------------------------------------------------------------< | Ohio bruisers War Curse return after having unlocked their thrash shackles | | with something a bit more melodic. Don’t worry there is still the | | requisite amount of razor sharp riffage but they’ve expanded their sound | | to something darker and punchier. The band put this change down to the | | recruitment of singer Blaine Gordon who is more versatile than the fella | | before thus allowing the band to develop their songs. | | | | Opener ‘The Nothing (That Is Me)’ starts with some dark melodic lines | | before a twin lead gets us to the grungy riff and Gordon shows us his | | masculine pipes. They ease back on the chorus before changing gears on the | | verses. ‘Fortress Of Agony’ starts slow and is crushingly heavy before | | they kick it up the butt and it drives along on Johnnie Wallace’s bass | | line then ‘Confession’ keeps the crush going. The subject matter is pretty | | heavy too, I won’t spoil it for you but suffice to say the band are saying | | what needs to be said! Wallace gives us another fine line as the guitars | | join him on the riff for ‘Miracle Broker’ and Gordon gives us his harsher | | voice to put the point across. It’s heavy as hell and the punches leave | | huge bruises everywhere and it continues on ‘Power Of The Powerless’ which | | gallops along into the modern groove metal of ‘The Convoy’ ain’t no | | ‘Rubber Duck’ (showing my age) on this – just huge down tuned guitars and | | a battering from drummer James Goetz. This is arena sized modern metal and | | another fine almost operatic vocal from Gordon. ‘Return To Dust’ has an | | epic feel as it grinds into your head and unceremoniously squats there. | | It’s huge, heavy and hard to shift. ‘Sowing Division’ is not about | | needlework! If it is, it’s heaviest song about tapestry and cross | | stitching I’ve ever heard. This stomps and crushes with cement boots. | | Things pick up a pace on the jagged ‘Rusty Nail’ before the final chug | | fest of ‘Illusion Of Choice’ shows the bands thrash roots. | | | | I like heavy music, but I also like melodic music and when you add the | | best of both you get a wonderful mix. Guitarists Justin Roth and Joshua | | Murphy have given us some of the heaviest riffage and singer Blaine Gordon | | has added some fabulous melodies with his clean voice. Somehow it makes it | | heavier and more accessible for the listener. There are a few of these | | bands coming up like Pryma and King Herd and now War Curse are here. This | | is impressive with fine songcraft in evidence and a superb production. The | | band used their full live rigs in the studio so what you hear on the | | record is what you will hear on stage. They say it’s not perfect – hey | | it’s come close though. Thoroughly recommended you would be a fool not to | | get this! | \_____________________________________________________________________________/ ixxu!imp