23rd January 2022

Review: “Exitium” by CurseUs

If you had to name a band who had shared stages with Black Tongue, Slaughter To Prevail and Within Destruction since being forged in the fires of Moscow Russia in 2017, CurseUs might not be the first on the tip of your tongue but while they are a youthful quartet, they have already gained a wealth of experience in the live arena. An intriguing blend of traditional Deathcore and Black Metal is said to be in the offering with their debut “Exitium” and with their sophomore EP “Coma” set for release early in 2022 it’s one we felt was an obvious choice for a review.

Haunting keys with a choral backing and ethereal quality bring the song the band chose as their title track to life before the bone snapping finale that sets the tone “Haze“. A brutal piece of 8 string groove heavy chug to put bounce into the pit, the band never afraid to tempo shift into bursts of Death or Black Metal with slick precision before the skull crushing downtempo closing that leaves the opposition trampled into the dust. “Breathe” has the pop of DJentisms as well as the blind fury of Alien chest bursting blast beats but somehow the band manage to shoehorn in some melodic leads into the bedlam of the asylum friendly throat splitting vocals that call from the black depths like a demon stood at the gates of Hell itself. CurseUs are more than capable of holding their own and going toe to toe with a multitude of Deathcore or Slam bands with their Technical chops adding intriguing moments of lead to pepper each cut with moments of light in the darkness. “War” is the most ferocious of these vocally, the shriller tones cutting like a hot knife through butter while at the same time being as filthy as they get and again the low and slow finale is worthy of a mention because it’s absolutely bloodsoaked. As well as they do downright destruction, CurseUs can also do atmosphere and with “Salvation” they prove they can combine the two to deviatingly sickening effect. Heavy in every sense of the word, this band are ones to watch going forward because the promise of the future from this thunderous start is limitless [8/10]

Track listing