Review Summary: God, I fucking miss this band.
When asked about Cursed most will go straight to the tragic ‘bullet to the head’ highway robbery that occurred to the band. After that, it will most likely be their sophomore album
II, followed by either
III or
I, depending on the fan preference. For a band as dark and hopeless as they were, Cursed has quite the bright and hopeful future ahead of them. After the release of
II, Cursed found themselves on the brink of excellence that could only have been expanded upon, and was rightfully made thus with the release of
III. However, in ’07, they released the EP
Blackout At Sunrise, which may have gone unnoticed to most fans.
I’ll make this clear right now,
Blackout At Sunrise is a must get for any fan of hardcore and Cursed in particular. Right from the beginning of ‘
Blackout At Sunrise’, following a drum buildup, that unmistakable muggy guitar tone that is found on II is heard chugging with vocalist Chris Colohan coming in with that distinctive clean toned voice. In a sense, this song follows the same formula as
II track ‘
Fatalist’; an intro followed into the more chaotic sound. Right afterwards, we are treated to a more fast paced hardcore/punk sounding Cursed in the track ‘
The Hands Will Abide’. Colohan is seriously one of the most gifted vocalists found in the genre, as his tone compliments the band perfectly and this song is just another showcase of his extraordinary ability. But it still doesn’t take away from the overall instrumentation of the band, as this is also to be lauded. Cursed have perfected the tone, distortion and reverb of their instruments; making it sound almost dirty and sludge-like. This, combined with the near perfect production of drummer Mike Maxiymuik, makes ‘
The Hands Will Abide’ an excellent track. The closer of this album (oddly named ‘
Hawaii’), could very much be one of the greatest tracks in the Cursed discography. To describe the guitar tone of this track would be simply; cyclonic. As destructive and devastating as a category F5 tornado, they constantly churn and spin until the very end of the track where it simply chokes itself to death by the mere speed of the song.
If you have found yourself wanting more of Cursed, that their three albums that they have released cannot satiate, then get this EP as soon as possible. While Cursed as the band might be dead and gone, their legacy still lives and
Blackout At Sunrise is a worthy addition to the albums
I,
II, and
III. Don’t let the fact that this is merely three songs fool you: in it, you might just find that these songs contend as some of the best found in the Cursed discography.
