Seattle's Curse of the North play 'traditional metal'...yeah, we've heard that before, but not all young bands who might not have even been born when classic metal was all the rage can harness the quality of such glorious music. This trio though have done a more than admirable job on Curse of the North: I, their latest effort for Static Tension Recordings. Drawing inspiration from Mercyful Fate, Black Sabbath, Thin Lizzy, Danzig, and Scorpions as well as more modern acts like Baroness, Grand Magus, and High on Fire, Christiaan Morris (Vocals/Guitar), Nick Cates (Bass), and Burke Thomas (Drums) have delivered eight hard hitting tunes that bring forth all we love about vintage sounding heavy metal.
From high powered speedsters like "The Tower" and "The Electric Wall" to more atmospheric, gloom laden tracks such as "Oceans Rise", "Sleep While You Can", "Faceless Killers", and "Wheel of Swords", there's a satisfying mix of doom and traditional metal to be found here. The guitar riffs aren't overly soaked in distortion to move things too far into the doom category, and while the band does occasionally dip into some stoner grooves, for the most part this is just no frills, classic sounding metal that might not allow any one element to really jump out at you (the sum is bigger than the overall parts), but it's more than pleasing none the less. Well done guys.
Track Listing
01 Sleep While You Can
02 Wheel of Swords
03 Into The Trees
04 The Tower
05 The Electric Wall
06 Blessed Burning
07 Oceans Rise
08 Faceless Killers
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