| Written by Alex Stojanovic TRACK LISTING Through Inferno The Next Life Endless Sky Ascension THE CURSE WITHIN IS: Eric Favot - Lead vocals & guitars Andres Carpio - Guitars & vocals Matt Schumacher - Bass Frank Smith - Drums (session) Release Date: June 13, 2025 Label: Independent Release Date: www.facebook.com/thecursewithinofficial www.instagram.com/thecursewithin |  |
As metal subgenres evolve, new elements are always being brought in, and most of them take on a new definitive sound, sometimes deviating to a far cry from the sound they started off with. When metalcore came in and dominated the scene in the early 2000s with bands like Avenged Sevenfold, Killswitch Engage, All That Remains, Shadows Fall, Trivium and Bullet For My Valentine, its sound was characterized by elements of traditional metal, thrash and melodic death metal mixed with hardcore punk sensibilities. When the 2010s came around, it started taking on a more djent and synth-oriented sound with lower guitar tunings and sometimes heavily processed vocals.
My whole point is that as subgenres continue to evolve, you sometimes long for that classic sound that the style built its original identity with. The 2000s metalcore sound was heavily guitar-driven with high-energy, technical, brutal and melodic riffs, the mixture of screamed verses and clean choruses, lots of guitar and vocal harmonies and crushing breakdowns, and there are always bands that come around to resurrect those subgenres' core sounds. Take Toronto's own Curse Within. Their sound is purely based off of that classic metalcore sound. I remember first seeing these guys live at the 2014 Wacken Metal Battle Canada when they were all in their late teens. In 2018, they stopped playing live shows due to lackluster turnouts, and focused on building their social media stats up and consistently releasing quality music over the next few years, and it definitely paid off tenfold.
Now, the band didn't release a full studio album since 2018 with Heartless, but they released stand-alone singles on a pretty consistent basis, and a couple of EPs as well. As far as an official release is concerned, the band took 3 of the singles they released over the last year, including one new one, and put together a brand new 4-song EP titled Through Inferno. Containing 4 singles that the band released over the last year, it marked the band's first non-single release in a while. Tracks like the title track and "Endless Sky" bring the old school metalcore vibes, while "The Next Life" and "Ascension" have a slight tinge of the more modern vibes of the genre, but still have the old school vibes resonating. My only gripe is that the guitars in "Endless Sky" are way too high in the mix, and they drown out the vocals in the chorus. That chorus is such a memorable one, but with the guitars turned up way too much in the mix, it kind of kills the momentum.
On a more personal side note, the band recently played their first live show since 2018, and I had the great privilege of being the band's drummer for this show, and playing a couple of the songs from this EP, plus some of their old favourites, and boy was it a blast. We opened for Self Deception from Sweden at the Dance Cave, and we were first up, and the venue filled up with most people coming just to see Curse Within. That was definitely a sign to the band that more live shows are in the pipeline.
My whole point is that as subgenres continue to evolve, you sometimes long for that classic sound that the style built its original identity with. The 2000s metalcore sound was heavily guitar-driven with high-energy, technical, brutal and melodic riffs, the mixture of screamed verses and clean choruses, lots of guitar and vocal harmonies and crushing breakdowns, and there are always bands that come around to resurrect those subgenres' core sounds. Take Toronto's own Curse Within. Their sound is purely based off of that classic metalcore sound. I remember first seeing these guys live at the 2014 Wacken Metal Battle Canada when they were all in their late teens. In 2018, they stopped playing live shows due to lackluster turnouts, and focused on building their social media stats up and consistently releasing quality music over the next few years, and it definitely paid off tenfold.
Now, the band didn't release a full studio album since 2018 with Heartless, but they released stand-alone singles on a pretty consistent basis, and a couple of EPs as well. As far as an official release is concerned, the band took 3 of the singles they released over the last year, including one new one, and put together a brand new 4-song EP titled Through Inferno. Containing 4 singles that the band released over the last year, it marked the band's first non-single release in a while. Tracks like the title track and "Endless Sky" bring the old school metalcore vibes, while "The Next Life" and "Ascension" have a slight tinge of the more modern vibes of the genre, but still have the old school vibes resonating. My only gripe is that the guitars in "Endless Sky" are way too high in the mix, and they drown out the vocals in the chorus. That chorus is such a memorable one, but with the guitars turned up way too much in the mix, it kind of kills the momentum.
On a more personal side note, the band recently played their first live show since 2018, and I had the great privilege of being the band's drummer for this show, and playing a couple of the songs from this EP, plus some of their old favourites, and boy was it a blast. We opened for Self Deception from Sweden at the Dance Cave, and we were first up, and the venue filled up with most people coming just to see Curse Within. That was definitely a sign to the band that more live shows are in the pipeline.
FINAL RATING
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