DEVOURER

"Devourer" is the third full-length studio album by UK, London based black metal act Skaldic Curse. The album was independently released in 2013 through the band´s Bandcamp page as a "name your price" download. The album was already recorded in 2009 shortly after the release of the band´s second full-length studio album "World Suicide Machine" (2009), but remained unreleased until 2013, probably in part because of Skaldic Curse´s 2011 split-up. So "Devourer" is a posthumous release and the last release in the band´s original run from 2001-2011.

Stylistically the material on "Devourer" continues and develops upon the harsh, but also atmospheric and progressive black metal style of "World Suicide Machine" (2009). I´d describe the music style as Voivod meeting up with Enslaved and creating a progressive black metal release which lends a bit from both artists. "World Suicide Machine" (2009) was arguably an intriguing and powerful release, but with "Devourer", Skaldic Curse take new steps in their development which propel them towards the very top of the progressive black metal world.

The tracks are adventurous and features unconventional song structures, tempo shifts, aggression, intensity, atmosphere, and power. The material is loaded with dissonant riffs and creative lead work, technical drumming, and some aggressive raspy black metal styled vocals (with a single excursion into a spoken word part). Skaldic Curse understand the of power of limitation though, and while the dissonant riffs are certainly a key element of their sound, they also incorporate more regular chords and songwriting ideas, which have the effect that the progressive parts have more impact. They for example also include some clean guitar parts, which are nicely and darkly atmospheric, but they are never the dominant element of the tracks. Just another intriguing spice.

"Devourer" features a sound production which is near perfect. It´s a professional, powerful, and detailed sound production, but it´s still raw, brutal, and intense, which suits the music perfectly. Upon conclusion it´s a real shame that Skaldic Curse disbanded before the release of "Devourer", because I´m definitely interested to hear what they would have come up with next, had they continued the band and released more material. "Devourer" is arguably a great swansong though, and a 4 - 4.5 star (85%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)