Review: “Heretical Onslaught” by I, Cursed

Having introduced themselves to an unsuspecting world in 2023 wit split EP shared with Blood Service Finnish Death Grind merchants I, Cursed haven’t looked back since giving us “Death Holograms” last year and now returning with “Heretical Onslaught“. Once again mixed and mastered by Jerkka Perälä (Apea, Atlases, SARS) at Firefield Avenue and Soft Neon Audiovisual, who is also credited with the artwork, this new affair should probably come with a public health warning attached to it. Influenced by the HM-2 sounds of Swedish Grind, vocalist Eero Haula (Oceanwake) and multi instrumentalist Ville-Veikko Laaksonen (Atlases, Marto) are now joined by guitarist Nico Brander (Blood Service, Marto) and drummer Arttu Leppänen (Atlases, Marto), an act which will only serve to sharpen the blades of their sonic creations…

A bloodcurdling roar from Haula makes “Malignant” something of a rude awakening alongside bludgeoning percussion and abrasive guitars, the band demonstrating they can do oppressive dark atmospheres and audio violence in under 111 seconds and survive to tell the tale. After that glimpse into the void another vicious tirade is to be expected and that comes in the form of the poison pen letter that is “Impure“. A brutal assault on the senses from start to finish, this one is a rampage through the dark, cold and damp backwoods with a chainsaw that is going to result in only one survivor, the skull splitting vocals nothing short of savage. The next 52 seconds of violent turbulence comes in “Nothing From The Ruins“, a track with two fleeting pauses during which the blast beats stop for just a fraction of a second. If you hadn’t already worked it out, this is very much the kind of music they force feed prisoners at Guantanamo Bay when seeking to induce sleep depravation prior to interrogation, sparks flying as the angle grinder runs across the metal in warning. I, Cursed know only one speed and that is very much the tempo of the damned. They reach that quickly with the dark and twisted “Disfigurement“, a track that has a couple of moments of haunting eerie atmosphere between its punishment beating verses and it has to be said that the false ending is an absolute masterstroke.

A banshee wail on the wind ushers in “Funerary” with the kind of horrific pretence of an old school VHS video nasty. The vocals are once again caustic but its the darkness of the atmosphere that makes this one, a couple of fleeting moments of sample having a disorientating effect. During those moments you’re not being hit by a sonic wall of guitars and it makes you wonder about the method behind the madness. Could a play on momentary silences of varying durations work in this context? A steel pan drum gets hammered into shape during “Loss“, such is the force of the blast beats as they threaten to burst your ear drums. Haula roars like a beast from the black depths throughout but the surprise is that underneath it all is a weighty groove. That continues into “Swarm“, a 67 second rant split in two that sounds like a conjoined twin when it comes to live performances. Smoking fretboards and HM-2 pedals that burn to the touch are left in the wake of this one, such is the fierce nature of the offering. “Death Pays It All” is the longest cut of the collection and arguably the most menacing and sinister as it approaches old school Death Metal from the night side with the emphasis on bludgeoning rhythms. There is however a moment of haunting ambience in the mid section of this one that is then echoed by the lead guitars in the second half, taking the level of seismic activity up a notch before the glorious feedback laden finale [7.5/10]

Track Listing

1. Malignant
2. Impure
3. Nothing From The Ruins
4. Disfigurement
5. Funerary
6. Loss
7. Swarm
8. Death Pays It All

“Heretical Onslaught” by I, Cursed is out 11th September 2025 via Inverse Records and Meara Music