Review Summary: Curimus' debut showcases promise, structure, and a desire to stand above the rank and file. Too bad it's so damn short.
Finnish death/thrash four-piece
Curimus released their first full-length album earlier this year, and pretty much nobody knows. The Scandinavians' first full effort in the music world, while it is solid, is also very short (barely over the half-hour mark) and it will remind listeners of the idiomatic one-trick pony; at the same time, it's enjoyably heavy and definitely shows a songwriting charm in the band's structuring. Perhaps it's the album's brevity that makes the record as fun to listen to as it is, but either way,
Realization works for Curimus. Now, as the retarded fairy lady in Shrek 2 says, "Let's explore that. Shall we?"
Most of Curimus' songs revolve around following solid riffs that lie somewhere in between boringly-easy and technically-demanding, while powerful and well-produced thrash drumming and the occasional breakdown keep the instrumentation varied. The basslines are most audible during the small drum-only portions of their tracks, which seem to greet you at almost every riff change, and the vocals are a cross between
Decapitated's more recent vocals and the harsher ones of
Lazarus A.D. I don't really mean that as a compliment, either; I can picture the band sitting around, wondering what to do for their new material, while the vocalist is away in his basement doing vocal impressions of bigger-name bands until it almost sounds like he's being original. The vocals aren't bad, it's just that his vocal influences are so obvious. Of course, true originality lies in execution and not always in concept, so I shouldn't make a big deal of that and blah blah blah...
I have a lot of good things to say about the drumming, particularly about how they pace the songs and especially their affect in helping the listener differentiate between tracks. The songs themselves will blend together, but the drumming gives each one specific character and I feel like it almost makes up for it. Well, not almost. Halfway? Okay, yeah. It halfway makes up for it. As for the bassist, it sounds like he's asleep most of the time. Then the drummer wakes him up and you hear some well-structured baselines before the guitar riffs set in and you go back to wondering what song this one is. The guitars themselves really don't stand out too much; they have a distinctive sound, but not a distinctive grouping or execution. The structuring is well-done, but the style of the actual guitar sound isn't all that spectacular in and of itself. Maybe I'm just not used to it after twenty listens. Wait, twenty? See, this is short sh
it. I told you.
All in all, Curimus'
Realization is a well-structured and executed release that's more fun than it is monotonous and unintelligible; that aside, there are some monotonous and unintelligible moments, lowering my overall opinion on the album. It is solid, though, and leaves plenty of room for growth.
Realization is a damn good first effort, and I hope the band keeps their chops and shows off their skills a little more often, come their next release. Cheers.
Recommended Tracks:
1. "Reset"
3. "Inhuman Nature"
7. "Hall of Insane"
10. "Welcome and Goodbye"
11. "Resigned Eyes"
