Cursed Earth spent 2015 laying waste to venues, house parties and ears across Australia via a sonic scorched earth policy. Playing a load of gigs, with a refreshing amount of diverse genre lineups, the groups powerful hardcore meets Swedish HM2 buzzsaw Death Metal turned heads and dropped jaws. Like if Crossed Out or Infest started jamming on Entombed’s gear, super intense but not afraid to riff out with some headbanging riffs.
New flexi ‘Enslaved By The Insignificant’ was introduced by a simply effective (and addictive) browser game. ‘Ensnaked’ (still playable at www.ensnaked.com) allowed some with the muscle memory of the Nokia era an early listen to the new tracks. This kind of simple marketing is genius and makes me wonder why more bands don’t try this more often, sometimes making an effort larger than a youtube clip goes a long way.
The two new tracks (Degenerate, Enslaved) sound excellent and heavy. A powerful and clear production makes Enslaved really shine, some off putting dissonant riffage puts this one at the top of my ‘would like to hear live’ list.
The download contains 9 older tracks, the remastered ‘Vae Mortis’ ep from 2104 and tracks from the split with Burning Season. This is a buzzsaw to the face and a can’t miss live band. Essential listening.
Critical Mass airs every Wednesday from 9PM (GMT+8) on RTR FM 92.1 in Perth, Australia.
