LEGACY TOUR DIARY, ENTRY #4: DARKEST HOUR’S MIKE SCHLEIBAUM TRIES TO GET CURSED BACK TOGETHER
As part of our sponsorship of The Legacy Tour featuring Darkest Hour, Veil of Maya, Periphery and Revocation, one member from each band will be penning an exclusive blog entry for MetalSucks to run during the tour (get a full list of tour dates here). Our first entry featured Veil of Maya guitarist Marc Okubo taking us on a run-through of his entire live rig, and the second entry was an update from Revocation’s Dave Davidson, and in the third Periphery’s Misha Mansoor talked about his new direct-to-PA live amp setup. For the fourth and final entry, here’s Darkest Hour’s Mike Schleibaum resuscitating his “The Underrated” MetalSucks column:
LETS GET THIS BAND BACK TOGETHER: CURSED
Greetings from a rat infested parking lot in Lubbock, TX, AKA the road! While I could write about the military strategy Lonestar and Ryan used to get the Whiskey A Go Go dancers on the bus this week in LA or how the 5150 (3’s) made by Fender/EVH might just be the ultimate high gain amp, I’m not. Rather I have decided to litter the internet with yet another opinion-related piece.
Since I have written in the past of unsung heros or overlooked records, I thought I might do that once more. Living on tour every day keeps us surrounded by music and fresh sounds (good or bad) assaulting our ears every day. Still, it’s important not to forget great bands and records that for whatever reason have their little notch in time. So I’ll just plug our new record, The Human Romance, out Feb 22, 2011 on E1 and then I’ll use this space right here to tell you about a band that should not be forgotten: Canada’s Cursed.
I know there is a different emphasis on musicianship and shredage that now permeates even the most remote ends of the metal spectrum. But I ask all MetalSucks readers that are 16 years old and up who love Veil of Maya, Periphery, and all tech-metal bands to check out Cursed. It’s music with passion, but played in a different way.
Ok, I admit it; I am biased. I have had the fortune of sharing the stage with them for a whole tour. They are amazing live and they are amazing dudes. But let’s keep this at least somewhat disguised as unbiased. Needless to say, if you never saw them live then, I’m sorry. Let’s all do our best right here on the Internet to start a reunion. I mean, it can happen (The Crown proved it!). Why is it so important to have seen them live? Well, it’s just that this type of music is best heard that way. When Cursed played it was loud, real loud. I mean too loud. Motorhead loud, you know. Sometimes I wished the guitars wouldn’t drown out the drums and vocals so much (a problem I feel is the only shortcoming of any of the recordings they have) but damn if it wasn’t an eye-opener when they hit that first chord.
Until that Metalsucks-spawned reunion happens we have three full records and three EPs to pound our heads to. I think it’s important to jam the full lengths first. You won’t be disappointed if you hear any of these three first as they’re all good. My personal thoughts on the sonics of the records aside, these are some sick ass jams. Riffs, no one did riffs better than these dudes. Just listen to the song “Reparations” off of Cursed Two. The opening riff is crushing and the lyrics are amazing. I loved the formula to Cursed songs; they seem to do whatever they want whenever they want but they always make it back to the hooks in time. To me “Reparations” is the ultimate Cursed song, but every record has its standouts.
Tracks to jam off of Cursed One: “Nineteen Seventy Four” and “Opposable Thumbs,” both amazing.
Although I mentioned “Reparations” from Cursed Two, there is also the opening track “Fatalist” which acts as the perfect opener for this record. Fuck, and then there’s “Head of the Baptist” and “The Void”… man, it’s just a record of sludgy, heavy, Crustastic (is that a word?) hits!
Cursed Three – Architects of Troubled Sleep would serve as Cursed’s swan song and for those of you who have not checked out this record please do. Cursed never disappointed and this record is no exception. Songs like “Antihero Resuscitator” prove they had no intention of losing their grip on the sick doom riffage. To me the track “Unnecessary Person” is a glimpse to where Cursed may have continued had they given the world Cursed Four.
So google those .rar’s, use Limewire, SoulSeek, bit torrent, whatever you like and check out these tunes. Or if you’re like me and you find value in having a physical record you can buy one of their amazing records in these places:
iTunes (digital)
Dark music played with so much passion and aggression is a rare thing. Let’s all demand a fourth Cursed record. The world of heavy music would definitely be better for it.
-MS
