The Seventh
Cursed Earth Wasteland
7.7
Synopsis:
Let me tell you something--Belgium’s Shiver Records (formerly The LSP Company) is slowly but surely becoming a pretty solid force in European metal, with solid releases from the likes of Crimson Falls, Fleshmould, Ordeal, Thurisaz, Axamenta, Moker, Suhrim, Neverlight Horizon and Welkin--most of it homegrown. I mean, not groundbreaking, genre shattering acts, but just solid, enjoyable no frills stuff, and The Seventh are another such act.
Review:
Plying what I can only call a form of brutal yet melodic death metal, The Seventh have a sort of traditional “Belgian" sound, being chunky, downtuned and bass heavy, but within their mid paced, home country styled rumbling and growling, there’s a lot of melody amid the stern, steady gait.
Again, not really earth shattering stuff here, but for fans of death metal, The Seventh, with their mix of burly girth and downtuned melody are certainly worth your ear. Just listen to tracks like the lurching, ultra hefty title track and “Newborn Breed,” and then the surprising melodic layering of “Dominion”, “Born In Winter” and craftily melodic “Vigier”; it makes you wonder if Bolt Thrower and Dark Tranquillity had some illegitimate Belgian, Tue Madsen-raised love child. “Tesselation” shows the band a little more adventurous with the guitar work, but still keeping a restrained, mid paced Amon Amarth like trot--and it all works very, very well. It’s actually pretty amazing that such a relatively simple formula can be so effective without sounding tired. Admittedly, this isn’t the most creative material in the world, but I’ll be damned if it isn't some of the most satisfying, especially for a crusty old school death metal head like me. The dual vocals of Facial D are an impressive cavernous bellow and a mid-range rasp, again making for the brutality meets melody mix.
I’ve been giving Cursed Earth Wasteland a lot of listening for a relatively low key release, and while it won't leap out at anyone, I’ll bet those that listen come away as impressed as I did.
