CURSUS – S/T (Like, Where’s the Bass Maaannn?)

Yeah listen. Yo. Making music is hard. Trying to do something new in music, even harder. Trying to do something without something expected, waaayyy harrrrddder. Every genre has expectations looming over it, and I don’t mean just metal in general or all the kabillions of subsubgenres we have now, I mean for anything. For doom metal, let me be specific, there is the expectation of overwhelming crush. This is a given and part of the genre’s philosophy. Thou (also a band name, duh) must make thy listener feel like the world is falling upon them. This is especially true if you’re going to be name-dropping Yob, Acid Bath, etc. etc. etc. etcetcteeeceee. on your Facebook page, or anywhere. So this duet from Texas is doing that, and they’re going forwards barren of bass. You know where I’m going with this already.

  

Doom without bass? Basically a death sentence, and of course CURSUS makes a fine attempt at covering this lack by upping some of the low-end of the guitars, as one would expect. The end result for this S/T leads to moments of interesting psychedelia, but often without the tripping. It’s more intent to rock than it is to doom, so to speak, but it’s still straightedge. X. The drums, in addition, are rather minuscule, and don’t have the same pounding presence of other bands, though this minimalist doom technique works to the band’s advantage several times throughout the listen. This is even more bold with the incorporation of atmosphere through electronics and vocals that know when and where to moan, when to shriek. See “Trail of Tears” (track five), for a summary of what I mean. In the end, though, you’re likely going to hear the same complaint from other critics (I’m still the best, sorry), which is, where’s the bass? I’d say beef, but I mean bass and that analogy is dead. With beef, or eh, damn it, bass, there’s no doubt this band would go from fisticuffs to pummeling. Interestingly, my favorite track was the last one, which is entirely ambient. They might just be able to avoid that bass if they find a way to meld that sound into the rest. We’ll see.

 

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Written by Stanley Stepanic

CURSUS: S/T
Artifical Head Records
3.8 / 5