Review: Endless Wound - Black Curse


By Greg Wiacek



So here’s the thing: a supergroup consisting of members from Denver’s best metal bands - Blood Incantation, Spectral Voice, Khemmis and Primitive Man - made some of the most disgusting and foul black-death-doom metal to come out this year, yet no one seems to be talking about it. More often than not, “supergroups” end up becoming less than the sum of their parts, but this group comes in raging, spewing the most vile filth they can conjure. The resulting sound combines the best elements of aggression, composition and darkness from their respective bands to wonderful effect. 

I’m going to try to refrain just repeating “oh man, this riff fucks” over and over again, but man, this album is such a well-balanced riff salad, combining exactly what I want to hear from the best of fast and s l o w extreme metal. The band knows the perfect amount of time to milk a riff before switching tempos, a huge factor in what makes this album flow so well for its 38 minute runtime. If anything, this album makes me do the cheesy “hold an invisible orb in my hand” motion, add in a stank face and then headbang around like a neanderthal – it’s primal music that insists on engaging you in a physical manner. 

Just listen to the shift into the mid-tempo, gargantuan riff on “Crowned In (Floral) Vice” or the doom section in “Enraptured By Decay” that’s fantastically complemented by an odd and psychedelic guitar overdub. An important note to make is how the album’s cover is the ideal complement to the sound of this entire record – it’s satanic, a burning inferno with punishing weight to bring you down.

One of my favorite aspects of this band that’s recently become increasingly hard to run across in extreme meta is the diversity, personality and variety brought upon by their vocals – I find that, more than others of his ilk, you can tangibly feel the hate and disgust from Eli Wendler. There’s moments where I’m legitimately concerned for the man’s vocal cords and diaphragm. He really gives it his all here, delivering harrowing and unnerving performances highlighted by the pacinng between his screams during songs. This is felt on the best two songs of Endless Wound, its closers – they’re the lengthiest, but have the most time to delve into what this band achieves best. “Finality I Behold” especially – fuck, the riff that comes in a minute and half in is scorching, and they even fit a mosh riff towards the end. 

The one song that doesn’t feel as up to quality as the rest of the album is the three minute “Lifeless Sanctum,” but even then, it saves itself with a build up to the mammoth riff that comes in towards the end, giving me near whiplash as a result of its throttle. Overall, Endless Wound is a ridiculously heavy record with dirt and grit that’s propelled by a thunderous performance from the band. It’s consistent across the board. If you have a passing interest in metal, but especially if you like/are interested in any of the bands referenced in the first paragraph, you’d be doing yourself a great disservice in avoiding this record.
BOPS: "Finality I Behold," "Endless Wound"
DUDS: “Lifeless Sanctum”

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