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Bright Curse

Bright Curse

Written by: BV on 04/08/2013 16:53:06

The London-based trio called Bright Curse probably won’t ring any instant bells in the minds of most readers here, but let me assure you; these guys are as relevant as the next band in the recent revival of retro-styled rock that seems to be tinged with doom influences and heavy psych. Drawing from earlier examples such as Pentagram, as well as the more recent Witchcraft and Wo Fat, Bright Curse is working hard on making a name for themselves in an already crowded scene that is literally overflowing with interesting acts at the moment. With their first self-titled EP, this could indeed be their time to shine.

Opening with the eerie intro-piece “A Sonic Wave” the doom influence is all over the place, and the title is no lie either – within this short 1½ minute track, the listener experiences a slow and doom-tinged piece of cacophony that is somewhat reminiscent of Suicide and Narcosatanicos, only in a slightly mellower version. As “A Sonic Wave” progresses into “The Hermit”, the doom tendencies take over as they are fueled by a slow and gloomy bass-line that forebodes the coming of the near-vulgar heaviness and the haunting vocals that’ll send shivers down most listeners’ spines. Granted, the vocal work is not as extraordinary as that of genre-contemporary Jex Thoth, but they are quite the impressive feat to boast nonetheless and they complement the fuzzy soundscape extraordinarily well.

With “What’s Beyond The Sun” the introspective tendencies of a heavy psych band become apparent, as the hypnotizing bass groove paves the way for droning guitars, shimmering sounds and a vibe vastly reminiscent of Black Sabbath – without ever really relying heavily on it as many other contemporaries of the doom-tinged genres tend to do. The fatal flaw of Bright Curse however, is exactly this. They are not Sabbath clones, yet neither are they fully evolved to the point where they can claim to have a sound of their own.

Bright Curse cite their music as contrasting life and death, using dynamic changes to do this – to some extent I hear what they’re getting at in their alt-doom soundscapes, through the changes from light lyrical passages over mid tempo grooves and into the full-on fuzz onslaught that all tracks on this EP seem to bathe in. yet, somehow I don’t feel as if these dynamic changes are portraying a shift from life to death, from light to shade or anything like that. Rather they seem more complex, as doom right and proper should. They portray the gradual stages of many different shades, as is evident on tracks like aforementioned “What’s Beyond the Sun” as well as album closer “Mind Traveller” where both seem vibrant and evolving throughout their run times, never really going stale or sluggish.

So, are Bright Curse on their way to doom superstardom? As of yet, this is quite difficult to answer. Granted, they do seem to portray a certain sense of individuality in a genre that is overflowing with Black Sabbath clones. However, as I stated earlier their ‘original’ sound has not yet been crafted into a recognizable and easily distinguished one of that. They might be getting there though, as this EP certainly showed a hint of promise. Hopefully they’ll fulfill that promise next time around.

Download: Mind Traveller, What’s Beyond the Sun, The Hermit
For The Fans Of: Jex Thoth, Egypt, Pentagram, Black Sabbath
Listen: facebook.com

Release Date 15.11.2012 (14.08.2013 on vinyl)
Bilocation Records