4th April 2022

Review: “Self Titled” by Burial Curse

Originally released on Famine Records in June 2021 with a limited run of just 100 cassette tapes, the announcement of a repressing for 8th April 2022 via Dawnbreed Records on Cassette and Compact Disc with 12” Vinyl to follow later on should be enough to tell you that Los Angeles California Blackened Death fueled Doom Metal duo Burial Curse are worth checking out. Comprised of Jared Moran (Drums, guttural vocals, art) and Nick Turner (Guitar, bass, shrieks) who are seemingly inspired by the likes of Impetuous Ritual, Incantation and Akercocke they pound the drums of War with themes of vile abominations…

…no one takes responsibility for the opening synths that set an eerie tone before the cavernous onslaught of “Vomitting Violence” begins, painting a primative and raw picture in blood on the walls of a cave depicting an unspeakable act of violence. Burial Curse have dark, sinister and menacing atmospherics nailed with Moran’s bottom of the Well lows matched in equal measure by Turner’s shriller tones of the impaled to create something intensely evil. The tracks sound like they were recorded in that very cave but the sound is deceptive as while the reverberation of the bass drum sounds rough there are moments in the guitar work that sound like the dulling of the sound has been done on purpose for style reasons. The violent turbulence and caustic abrasions of “Seeping Bile” put the duo in the same territory as works by Australian legend Brendan Auld whose spitting, snarling and downright unhinged venom in Snorlax sounds like it belongs on the same stage. The darker opening to “Apparition” threatens something slower and brooding in the Death Doom vein but quickly gathers pace with Moran needing to be held back as he drives things forward to breakneck speed from behind the kit and the tempo shifts within this as Burial Curse attack in waves is what makes it obsurely psycadelic. There are moments of this bludgeoning soundscape that sound like they belong to the diseased mind of a schizophrenia sufferer about to go on a psychotic episode that will find them awakened from slumber covered in blood an not knowing anything of the frenzied killing spree that resulted in it and “White Sulphur” is one of those moments. Oddly claustrophobic and eerie with haunting bends from the guitars at the turn around in the riff, it all sounds unhinged. There is something in the drum sound that sounds odd and if you listen closely with the reverb it actually sounds like the kick is being played in reverse during some of the skull shaking, spine juddering moments of “Levitating Flesh Construction“. It’s savage while at the same time fearfully addictive, dominating like a low budget survivalist horror film that despite its obvious flaws achieves cult status by capturing your imagination and as the final dissonant notes play out, the potential here is huge [7/10]

Track listing