Pathogen

Every once in a while, we all come across a band by sheer accident when trawling through the endless facets of metal music. A while back now, I decided to try my hand at finding a decent British black metal band, since I myself am English and live on these shores. I don’t often attend gigs, though I am doing so a lot more now than I have over previous years in order to support and sample the live atmosphere a band brings with them whenever they tour the shores of Great Britain. So, finding decent bands from this country, in my eyes, gives me more of a chance to be able to attend gigs I actually want to go to, instead of some obscure local gig with untalented bands who have musicians with egos the size of the isle of the United Kingdom itself. Black metal isn’t often associated with England, or any other nation around these parts. We have a history when it comes to doom, sure, but black metal is an area us Englishmen and women really need to address and start dedicating our time to. Thankfully, this does appear to be happening with a number of bands springing up across the country, from Fen to Niroth, from Anaal Nathrakh to Winterfylleth.

Though our stake in black metal isn’t huge, or as significant as fellow European nations like France, or Germany, we do have some hidden talents within our grasp that do happen to excel at what they do. It may be a bit of a bold statement, but I actually think we have some of the more creative bands with acts like Caïna bravely submerging into outside influences and meshing it with black metal music. Other acts, like Fen and Winterfylleth respectively, also do the same. When one looks at certain scenes, from other countries, there seems to be a specific sound that we can generalise the country on, but when it comes to British black metal, there is no one dominate theme and that makes this scene of ours a little more exciting than the average scene of places like America and Scandinavia, where there is a definite overriding sound. This band, Skaldic Curse, are another indication that we seem to have a mixed sound, with influences ranging from the traditional aspects, to outside factors like post-rock, or even other metal genres, which is where bands like Akercocke, with their hybrid of black and death come into the abstractly drawn up picture. Skaldic Curse are a relatively unknown to myself and, it would seem, many others who follow the black metal scene as avidly as I tend to.

As I’m sure I’ve stated one hundred times before, I’m not the biggest fan of the British scene. Though we may have some extremely talented acts like the aforementioned few, amongst others, we don’t have an abundance of wealth to play with. I suppose, for a small area, we are exceeding what is expected of us, but that doesn’t mean to say we can’t do better. There is almost always room for improvement and the underground scene in this country, though thriving in certain aspects, needs a dose of reality. I've become somewhat distant from the scene in this country, namely the black metal scene, as it offers little or nothing out of the ordinary on most occasions. Too many bedroom bands, too many Cradle of Filth aspiring idiots and a whole host of trash (see Emit). However, once in a while, we’re blessed by the arrival of a saviour and this time round, its Skaldic Curse. This aggressive band, who revolve around typical ideas of hatred, misanthropy and war, are different from the other bands I have mentioned, though they do tend to delve into atmospheres that reminds me of Fen on occasions, which would make sense since some of the musicians, to my surprise, actually play in both bands.

The inclusion of a lot of underlying bass reminds me specifically of Fen and the way they mould a lot of the aggression around one set of guitar leads and the bass, which is a lot more aware of our needs in terms of offering a bit more emotion than fast-paced, aggressive guitars do. There is a definite progressive vibe to the music, shown in the guitars primarily and when this element is conjoined with the bass, the percussion and even the hateful vocals, I am much more aware of that progressive structure to the atmospherics, aptly shown in songs like ‘Sadist Labyrinth’. To my surprise I was gravely mistaken thinking this band were nothing but another in a long list of hopeless musicians. Instead, what I came across is as many people refer to, a 'gem'. If 'Pathogen' had the exposure required and a willing audience who were intent on giving an up-and-coming band a shot, I would predict great success. Its just a shame the audience is seemingly missing from the equation. Skaldic Curse are about innovating a dead style and transforming it. Skaldic Curse have a marvellous ability to be able to convey an often fast and furious variation of black metal with ease and supreme greatness alongside a gentle, unexpected side that, again, brings me back to memories of Fen and how they condense the atmosphere into small doses, making it sound monumental. Fantastic innovation and bags full of creativity are at the heart of this British act as they pummel their way through your chest and rip out your beating heart to offer it a dark and hateful God.

The production is a bit weak, especially when it tries to guide the bass across the distorted landscapes, but it does a good enough job at portraying the disgusted themes. The follow-up to ‘Pathogen’, entitled ‘World Suicide Machine’ has improved on this area, so there are no qualms about the future use of production. Fast paced song structures don‘t allow much time to sample the glorious soundscapes, but repeated listens help in turning the exquisite misanthropic melodies and crushing double bass blast beats into a winning combination. From beginning to end 'Pathogen' acts as a war machine, driving on through wind, rain and snow to defeat its enemy, the listener. The obvious aggression and downright furious style is appealing to the senses, which is imperative to any human being. 'Pathogen' is what poetry is to the soul. A mind blowing experience of hatred explored through melodious guitars and deranged screams from an overbearing vocalist who knows no end to the pain he is feeling. All aspects of the music depict the lyrical themes fantastically and each instrument plays in tangent with one another. 'Pathogen' rarely offers any moment to sit back and relax. All too often black metal bands don't realise the need for a prominent bass sound, but Skaldic Curse do and this adds a different dimension to their style. The bass offers a darker intensity with its low and crushing tone. Skaldic Curse have taken black metal to the next level in this country with solid song writing, decent musicianship and dynamism. 'Pathogen' offers a new and unexpected level of complexity to the black metal style, which in this instance, is duly welcomed. Highlights include; Infection, Sadist Labyrinth and Decomposing Reality.

I first heard Skaldic Curse years ago, when their excellent tune "Drowning in Emptiness" was on a Terrorizer cover CD, featuring the best of the British underground (also with bands like Thus Defiled and Tangaroa). Since then they sunk under my radar, until I discovered their debut album, limited to 500 copies and only available via mail-order from their French label.

These guys deserve much more recognition as this album is an absolute killer. Clocking in at just under forty minutes, it features six grim tracks of black brilliance (plus an intro) and is one of the best black metal albums I've heard.

Let's get the intro out of the way. I'm not normally a fan of non-tune intro tracks, but this one is appropriate; it sounds like you're watching over CCTV a roomful of hapless victims being exposed to some nameless horror. It sets the atmosphere up perfectly.

Onto the tracks proper. The production and mixing on this album is very good. The drums are perhaps slightly boomy but they're in just the right place in the mix and give a good impetus to the music. The guitars are set up with fantastic tones, and are never drowned out by what is going on around them. There is also bass here - many black metal albums suffer from a bass guitar part that is not only boring but also thrown waaay back in the mix; here it gives a great, pulsing, throbbing undercurrent that pushes everything along.

The vocals are mostly well-executed, throaty rasps and screeches, delivered with scorn; at some points there are really deep bellows straight from the guts. I can see where the death grunt comparisons come from, but the vocals are always undeniably black in nature, despite encroaching upon the boundary between black and death.

Now we all know what "grim black metal" sounds like so I won't go into great detail about that. What separates this album from the fold is how that sound is structured. Tempo changes are commonplace, riffs are thrown about with abandon and the occasional clean guitar parts only accentuate the intensity of (and never lose the feel of) the surrounding sections. This album is relentless in its approach; by taking some of the better ideas from proggy genres and carefully applying them to grim black metal, the band have created a stunning album. The only downside is that six tracks are not enough!

This Album will surprise you with the level of tune complexity, yet it never gets too wanky, or progish. The basic raw black metal tempo melds all the changes into a very enjoyable listen.

The first track on this amazing release is "Infection", an intro piece that sounds like some evil vibrating and throbbing machinery in a forgotten frozen cave. Fun for all.

"Sadist Labyrinth" almost had me fooled that I had another boring black metal release on my hands as the first few minutes is fairly standard. The sound is great production wise, but what really grabs you is the Bass about three minutes in. The lobbing undercurrent really draws you into the static of the guitars and gives this song some great atmosphere. The main riff plays off the bass nicely showing some great musical sensibilities. Then another minute later the bass changes up and really stands out with a bit of a solo!, before crashing back into a blast beat/growl that finishes things up.

"Again, The Knives" keeps up the same quality with excellent drum work and change-ups. Sliding guitar pick work and a galloping rhythm section that explodes after an Emperor like guitar breakdown. Vocally there are some deeper overlaying growls and Gorgoroth like singing mixing in with the main yell/screeches.

"Slaughter the Useless" starts off with gentle strumming that turns into a mid-paced powerhouse. The bass is well mixed and strumming along with the simple chord progression of the guitar to an utterly pleasing experience.

"Carrionfields" plays out a lot like "Sadist Labyrinth" with a long blast beat beginning that changes temp towards the middle. The song also features some almost death metal like growls, but it's not quite there. The ending is almost an Opeth like number with electric strumming. My least favorite song, but not a bad song at all.

"Onset of Decay" is probably my favorite track here. The guitar tone is really great and grabs you right away. High and tin like. This song gets very staccato with some excellent bass harmony toward the end. Some of the guitar reminds me of earlier gorgoroth as well.

"Decomposing Reality" starts off with a swirling wah wah pedal intro, the bass walking up and down the scales. It's not exactly pure black metal but very interesting. It quickly gets back into the swing of things with more traditional black metal sounds, yet the bass work stays top notch. After Five minutes the song breaks down to nothing but very quiet guitar, slowly building to a crunching riff to sew things back up.


To Sum up, if you're looking for black metal with good musicians and interesting change ups, this is for you. Again, the changes never take away from the overall feel of the songs, which is great. It never degenerates into a prog/death metal like feel. It's still grim, plodding, and powerful.
Take heed, well mixed bass guitar can really add a lot to black metal!