Review: Black Curse – Burning in Celestial Poison
War! What is it good for?
If you are unfamiliar with Black Curse, allow me to provide a bit of context for this group. Based out of Denver, Colorado, this quartet is something of an underground metal supergroup consisting of members from other stalwart acts such as Blood Incantation, Spectral Voice, Khemmis, and Primitive Man; however, these lads have come together with an idea that holds grand significance in these troubled times: Make War Metal Good Actually. Impossible you might say beneath your hesitant breath, but rest assured. What was previously thought impossible is now reality.
Burning in Celestial Poison is the sophomore release and follow up to 2020’s stand-out Endless Wound, which took the extreme metal world by storm seemingly due to the members involved and the pure aggression that was unleashed upon the listening masses where black, death, and even doom were integrated into a chaotic war metal package that worked to perfection. Does this new release stand up to likely unfair expectations surely to be cast upon it? The short answer is yes, while the longer one is mostly so with some caveats.
Kicking us off is the first track “Spleen Girt with Serpent” where we are quickly greeted with expected guitar fuzz and a drumming bombardment. A wall of noise is cast upon you invoking the hectic and anxiety-inducing assault that is to be expected for music of this nature. This approach persists until a slight break is offered around 3 minutes in where the intriguing parts start making themselves heard. This segment is slower, yet somehow feels more chaotic when ringing guitar whines are layered over a groovier riff before deftly switching to more full-on noise/doom territory. This an approach that is common throughout the entire runtime, assisting the listener as to not get too bogged down by a tsunami of overwhelming aggression.
The next track continues where the first left off with an unsurprising level of sonic hatred and a palpable venom spewed with every scream and note. However, herein lies my main issue with Burning in Celestial Poison: overlong compositions that focus too much on ideas that seem to meander rather than adding depth. Being 5 tracks in length, with three of them being around 11 minutes or longer, seemed like an interesting take on a war metal release, but this feels like an album that was in need of some editing. Are there any parts of “Trodden Flesh” that I would describe as bad or poorly executed? No, but I have to admit to myself that I constantly found my mind wandering during the prolonged sections of harshness and would only really snap back to attention when the slower parts were brought in.
The next two tracks are quick, brisk (in comparison) entries clocking in at about 7 and 4 minutes respectively. “Ruinous Paths…” brings the energy and hatred right to your ear canals and uses the blackened flourishes to spice up the walls of oppressive noise well and some incredible drum fills are always welcome. Following up is “…To Babylon,” acting as the second component of this one-two punch that continues the trend of strong ideas that somehow lack the impact of what made Endless Wound such a force. Burning in Celestial Poison simply lacks the powerful and head-banging riffs that its predecessor so mercilessly laid upon us. Not to say that the entire album is devoid of these attention-grasping passages, but they are simply much fewer in number and lacking in memorability.
Lastly, the album closes with the 11 minute “Flowers of Gethsemane” where the doom and riffing components are brought to the forefront. Noisy guitar solos are weaved into the chaos intermittently while the dense production sits on your chest to limit your breathing capacity. Ending with several minutes of heavy, noise-laden atmosphere and wispy howls drives home the intensity this record brings. A solid album closer, but in today’s musical landscape of growing war metal-esque entities such as Gorgon Vomit, Sulfuric Hatred, and Concrete Winds, Black Curse finds themselves as competent, yet slightly lacking. This is likely one that will require ample repeated listens to truly unlock, but that is also where it comes up lacking from its amazing older sibling Endless Wound.
3.5/5 Flaming Toilets ov Hell
Burning in Celestial Poison releases October 25 via Sepulchral Voice Records.
