Sepulchral Curse are using the classic Finnish death metal template but doing so much more with it by incorporating myriad influences while making sure the momentum and heaviness remain unaffected. Check out their opening song on Bandcamp and YouTube, as the entire album comes your way via Haulix. It’s a complex beast and with each listen you’re bound to discover something new.
Sepulchral Curse (Finland) – Only Ashes Remain (July 31st, 2020)
Genre – Death Metal
Release Date – July 31st, 2020
Record Label – Transcending Obscurity Records
For fans of – Demilich, Convulse, Imperialist, Adramelech, Hateful, Lurk, Necrophobic, Demigod, Solothus
Sepulchral Curse are Finland’s best kept secret. They’ve retained the classic Finnish death metal traits of bands such as Demilich, Adramelech, Convulse, Demigod and expanded upon it in a way that’s never been done before. The songs are meticulously composed, making them intricate and even unpredictable, but despite the vagaries there is an underlying groove that keeps everything together. Black metal influences seep through to add flavour to the proceedings as the songs keep undulating and showcasing different facets each time. The music ebbs and flows and the pace is always varying, as the vocalist barks and roars in tandem, depending on the mood. The album settles into murkier, doomier territories towards the end, not too dissimilar to Finnish label mates Lurk and Altar of Betelgeuze, but keeping its freshly forged sound intact through it all. This is an engrossing, fascinating album from Sepulchral Curse, one that gets better with each listen. It definitely counts as one of the best Finnish death metal albums ever produced.
Band lineup –
Tommi Ilmanen (Yawning Void) – Drums & Vocals
Kari Kankaanpää (Solothus, Yawning Void) – Vocals
Jaakko Riihimäki – Guitars
Aleksi Luukka (Solothus, Yawning Void) – Guitars
Niilas Nissilä – Bass
Artwork by Alex Tartsus (Depravity, De Profundis)
Layout by TG Rantanen (Paganizer, Henry Kane)
Mastered by Dan Lowndes (Blood Incantation)
Logo by David Mikkelsen (Undergang)
Track listing –
1. From Within the Bowels of the Earth
2. Swarming Blackness
3. Into the Depths Unknown
4. Eyes Inside
5. Church of Loss
6. Dead Stars Drawing Spirals
7. Maan Tuhkien Uneen
Transcending Obscurity Official YouTube Channel