Cursed

Two

[4] There are at least 1.2 million bands attempting to combine hardcore with noise via black/death metal, and while a lot of those bands are good at what they do, only a few of them sound as legitimately angry as their image makes them appear; and one of those, His Hero Is Gone, doesn’t even exist anymore. Not quite crust, sort of metal, very melancholy and ultra-hardcore, Two is Cursed’s follow-up to the equally awesome One from 2003; and while the new disc doesn’t offer many surprises in comparison, fans of this Canadian band won’t be complaining about lack of variety. Lumbering, heavy and just off-time enough to be surprising, the tempos seem locked into a continuous downshift, while the riffs and bass lines-mournfully melodic and black as night-roar like they’re choking on their own filth. All of which is to say Two doesn’t just sound legitimately angry; it also sounds eerily real. (Goodfellow/Sonic Unyon) –Aaron Burgess