Sepulchral Curse is back with a new EP.
Two years after their first album, the Finnish band composed of Niilas Nissilä (bass/vocals, Apparition), Jaakko Riihimäki (guitar, ex-Dethera, ex-Gladenfold), Kari Kankaanpää (vocals, Solothus, Yawning Void), Aleksi Luukka (guitar, Gambanteinn, Solothus, Yawning Void) recruited Johannes Rantala (drums, Yawning Void) in 2022 and announced Deathbed Sessions.
Note that the EP was recorded by Tommi Ilmanen (drums/vocals, Gambanteinn, Yawning Void, Beyond the Below, ex-Dethera, ex-Urgamla), their former drummer.
The EP starts with the long and haunting Circular Aeons, a very solid composition which mixes a heavy atmosphere completed by massive screams with tortured choruses, dissonant leads and an obvious darkness. The slowness of the track will be accompanied by heavy Doom/Death influenced riffs and very effective drums, then Harvesting The Bloodlines will reveal a very Old School and almost unhealthy catchy groove. Aggressive choirs resurface in this driving and devastating mix which will make many heads shake, while Dystheist will bring back the piercing leads and the imposing screams. The ambient chaos remains anchored in this oppressive slowness for the first part of the track, but one will notice an acceleration with Black/Thrash influences to close this track in violence, just before closing the EP on Towards The Shrouded Infinity, a cover of the Swedish band Demigod, released on their first album thirty years ago. The extreme aggressiveness of this track is completed by the heavy touch of the band, which perfectly transcribes this ancestral rage, while letting some melodies live.
Their last album had already made a strong impression on me, but Sepulchral Curse continues to deliver a massive sound. Their extreme musical mix makes Deathbed Sessions one of the year’s must-haves, whether you like Black, Death or both!
95/100