WAR CURSE
WAR CURSE “Confession”
By Colonel Angus
This is a record from a band that I haven’t heard before but I wanted to do some research before I heard one note of “Confession”. My usual modus operandi is to just dive into this new releases without listening to their previous releases but based on the press release, I wanted to follow the journey that got to this new material. So I dove into their previous thrash records “Final Days” and “Eradication” and I was blown away by the fact that this band was able to escape me and my group of friends. I even asked a couple of my metal acquaintances and they said that they heard them but didn’t think I would like their disks. Maybe I need to expand my metal network because some of these bands are starting to fall through the cracks.
Either way, these metal merchants hail from Ohio and have a pretty stable line-up. Justin Roth and Joshua Murphy have been providing the guitars while James Goetz has been thrashing his drum kit on all three records. Blaine Gordon replaced vocalist Tarek Puska and although I enjoy Puska’s vocals on “Final Days”, I find Gordon to be a better fit and overall stringer singer. Which brings us to the newest member Johnnie Wallace lays down the bass for Confession. All of the research provided me a foundation for this review which helped me look at it as a new fan but also one that heard their previous efforts.
Right off the bat we are presented with a soft acoustic guitar intro that builds into almost a JUDAS PRIEST intro. After about a minute of that, the band gets down to business with heavy riffing and pummeling drums. This is a slight departure from their earlier material which I felt was more just full on thrash. “The Nothing (That is Me)” opens the album in great style and I have to admit, I really dig the production. While “Final Days” had all the charm of the old-school thrash classics, Confession has a much beefier sound while still giving all the instruments and vocals room to shine. Things don’t let up with “Fortress of Agony” which has great mosh-pit inducing verses and nice groovey chorus. The beginning of the title track reminds me a little of "Wherever I May Roam" by METALLICA but that is where the comparison ends. Once the track kicks in, things get faster and heavier.
Elsewhere, we get snippets of the older WAR CURSE in songs “Return to Dust”, “Illusion of Choice” and “Power of the Powerless”. All three tunes have that vibe that was prevalent in their two other disks but on “Confession” they combine that element with their newer sound to create more depth to the tracks. A few of the other tunes like “Sowing Division” and “The Convoy” would have stood out like a sore thumb on “Final Days” or “Eradication” but in the confines of this newer depth of sound, they fit in perfectly. The only track that I don’t really get is the GRIP INC. cover of “Rusty Nail”. While they do the song justice, their own material is much better in my opinion and I would have preferred to get another WAR CURSE original. Thankfully, it is a quick track and although I’m not the biggest fan, I haven’t skipped it in my two dozen listens. Coming in at just a hair over 43 minutes, this is the perfect length for “Confession” and I’m sure you will be hitting the play button again after the vocal strains of “Illusion of Choice” fades just like I did (and continue to do).
Overall, this record should not only retain the older fans but also gather the band some new fans. The press release likens “Confession” to be WAR CURSE’s “Black Album” and I can kind of see it. I’ll be the first to admit that when METALLICA shifted gears for that record, I was a little bit disappointed but as I listened to it, I recognized the thought put into each note of every track. I feel the same way about “Confession” in that there is a depth and maturity to the songs and you can hear that same thought going into every part. For those of you who have been following WAR CURSE, I recommend you give “Confession” a thorough listening before you pass judgement. It may not be the full-on thrash of their earlier works but this new one has all the makings of a classic.