UMUR "Devourer" is the third full-length studio album by UK, London based black metal act Skaldic Curse. The album was independently released in 2013 through the band´s Bandcamp page as a "name your price" download. The album was already recorded in 2009 shortly after the release of the band´s second full-length studio album "World Suicide Machine" (2009), but remained unreleased until 2013, probably in part because of Skaldic Curse´s 2011 split-up. So "Devourer" is a posthumous release and the last release in the band´s original run from 2001-2011.

Stylistically the material on "Devourer" continues and develops upon the harsh, but also atmospheric and progressive black metal style of "World Suicide Machine" (2009). I´d describe the music style as Voivod meeting up with Enslaved and creating a progressive black metal release which lends a bit from both artists. "World Suicide Machine" (2009) was arguably an intriguing and powerful release, but with "Devourer", Skaldic Curse take new steps in their development which propel them towards the very top of the progressive black metal world.

The tracks are adventurous and features unconventional song structures, tempo shifts, aggression, intensity, atmosphere, and power. The material is loaded with dissonant riffs and creative lead work, technical drumming, and some aggressive raspy black metal styled vocals (with a single excursion into a spoken word part). Skaldic Curse understand the of power of limitation though, and while the dissonant riffs are certainly a key element of their sound, they also incorporate more regular chords and songwriting ideas, which have the effect that the progressive parts have more impact. They for example also include some clean guitar parts, which are nicely and darkly atmospheric, but they are never the dominant element of the tracks. Just another intriguing spice.

"Devourer" features a sound production which is near perfect. It´s a professional, powerful, and detailed sound production, but it´s still raw, brutal, and intense, which suits the music perfectly. Upon conclusion it´s a real shame that Skaldic Curse disbanded before the release of "Devourer", because I´m definitely interested to hear what they would have come up with next, had they continued the band and released more material. "Devourer" is arguably a great swansong though, and a 4 - 4.5 star (85%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "World Suicide Machine" is the second full-length studio album by UK, London based black metal act Skaldic Curse. The album was released through Dark Essence Records in February 2009. It´s the successor to "Pathogen" from 2006.

Stylistically the material on "World Suicide Machine" further develop upon the harsh and atmospheric black metal of the preceding releases by the band (three demos, one EP, and the debut album). "World Suicide Machine" is a step up on production values though, which gives the listener a better understanding of how intriguing and adventurous the band´s material actually is. At it´s core this is fast-paced blasting black metal, which isn´t anything unusual for the genre, although it is arguably delivered with the right amount of hateful conviction, but when the band decide to add tempo changes, technical playing details, and progressive songwriting ideas, that´s when they become more interesting.

"World Suicide Machine" is a cold, harsh, and relentlessly hateful album, but the atmospheric part of the music still provides the album with an air of accessibility you don´t always experience on releases as extreme as this one. Skaldic Curse do what a lot of other experimental artists often don´t. They add progressive songwriting ideas in a subtle manner, and make them fit naturally with their core black metal sound, and as a result nothing on "World Suicide Machine" sounds awkward or out of place.

Featuring 6 tracks which are all between 6 and 7 minutes long Skaldic Curse also make room for their creative songwriting ideas to develop in a natural way, and upon conclusion it´s a highly intriguing progressive black metal release and a 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Promo 2008" is an independently released promo by UK, London based black metal act Skaldic Curse. The promo was originally released on the CD format limited to 50 copies, which were sold at the band´s shows (the first time at the Camden Unicorn, 17/10/2008).

The promo features 3 tracks and a total playing time of 19:39 minutes. The opening track is the studio version of the title track from Skaldic Curse´s forthcoming sophomore full-length studio album "World Suicide Machine" (2009). The two remaining tracks on the promo are live versions of "Slaughter of the Useless" and "Onset of Decay". Both tracks which originally appeared on the band´s debut full-length studio album "Pathogen" (2006). Both are well performed and features a professional live recording quality.

As a promo for the upcoming release of "World Suicide Machine" (2009), this release is a successful teaser, giving you a taste of what´s to come, but also a couple of rare live tracks, which are exclusive to this release. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Pathogen" is the debut full-length studio album by UK, London based black metal act Skaldic Curse. The album was released through Forgotten Wisdom Productions in 2006. Skaldic Curse formed in 2001 and were active until 2011, releasing a couple of demos, one EP, and two full-length studio albums in that period, and also released the posthumous third album ("Devourer") in 2013.

Stylistially the material on "Pathogen" pretty much continue the harsh and cold, but also atmospheric black metal style of the 2004 "Contagious Psychic Misery" EP, but adds even more atmosphere and progressive songwriting ideas to the compositions. Sure some of the progressive moments include acoustic sections and other relatively standard progressive features, but Skaldic Curse often disguise how adventurous they are in the chords they use or the way they transist from one part of the song to the next. In other words it´s a subtle progressive touch and it´s seldom rubbed in your face, so to those who want their black metal undiluted, harsh, and cold, "Pathogen" still delivers plenty of that.

The sound production is as harsh as the music, but it´s detailed and suiting the material well. Upon conclusion "Pathogen" is an adventurous, progressive inclined black metal release by Skaldic Curse and a good quality debut album. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Contagious Psychic Misery" is an EP release by UK, London based black metal act Skaldic Curse. The EP was released through Forgotten Wisdom Productions in 2004. The original release was limited to 500 cassette tape copies. Skaldic Curse formed in 2001 and were active until 2011, releasing a couple of demos, this EP, and two full-length studio albums in that period, and also released the posthumous third album ("Devourer") in 2013.

while the 2001 "Funereal Eclipse" demo wasn´t anything out of the ordinary, Skaldic Curse began showing more progressive ideas on the 2002 "Hated by Matter Itself" demo, although their core sound was still black metal. That approach is continued on the 4 tracks on the 25:40 minutes long "Contagious Psychic Misery" EP. It´s reverb laden, razor sharp, trebly, harsh, and fast-paced blasting black metal, but Skaldic Curse also add atmospheric features and progressive ideas to their music, making "Contagious Psychic Misery" an intriguing release throughout. The vocals are predominantly raw snarling and hateful black metal vocals, but the EP also features spoken sections, and a couple of clean vocal moments.

The production values are harsh, but not murky, and suits the rawness of the material well. So while it is certainly a bit lo-fi and unpolished, "Contagious Psychic Misery" is a relatively interesting release by Skaldic Curse and a 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.