The Curse

The Curse is essentially a demo version of "The Most Ancient Ones". The key differences between this release and "The Most Ancient Ones" is that this version is faster, has rougher production and less developed song structures.

Now these songs aren't exactly Hate Forest's strongest material. They generally consist of a couple of riffs that change every now and then. The riffs actually aren't all that bad, but the shortcoming is that they're fairly repetitive and at first listen its difficult to tell one song from the next because of the similarities in the rhythm of the riffs.

I'm not exactly sure if this is a rehersal demo as Metal Archives currently says because it has extremely good quality sound for such. All instruments are clearly heard, including the bass. It does have tape style sound though, so it definately not studio quality, but seeing that this is a demo that is okay. The songs on this demo are slightly faster than their counterparts on "The Most Ancient Ones" and I see that as a good thing too. Personally I prefer these versions of the songs to their studio versions as I think it gives it a rawer, more cold feel.

My personal favorites off this tape are "Inmost Winter" and "Black Forest", however the tape seems to drag on after the first couple of songs.

Overall, its not a bad release, but I would only recommend it to diehard Hate Forest fans or those who think that "The Most Ancient Ones" is too slow and polished. If you hate tapes and want it on CD, look for the "To Twilight Thickets" release, which also has the interesting "Temple Forest" unreleased minimalist ambient demo included.