CURSED EXCRUCIATION - Arcane Diabolism LP

Hailing from Brazil and forming in 2020, CURSED EXCRUCIATION is the sole work of one Trance of the Undead, who antagonized trendies last year with his selfsame TRANCE OF THE UNDEAD project's Chalice of Disease debut album via IRON BONEHEAD. Whereas that band hails the banner of malodorous black/death, CURSED EXCRUCIATION is an expurse of sonic sodomy from southern climes circa 1993 - specifically, landmark records like Necromantia's Crossing the Fiery Path and Mystifier's Göetia. And yet, whereas black metal as an artform and culture owes so much to those two albums, time has proven that they're incredibly difficult to replicate, be it songwriting, production, or especially aura.

Enter CURSED EXCRUCIATION's debut full-length, Arcane Diabolism. Making good on the promise of two demos last year, Trance of the Undead somehow manages to channel the aura of both aforementioned landmarks simultaneously - and, in the process, reveal an identity all his own. Hulking and lurking, surging sulphurously with a primal power that's exceptionally nuanced, Arcane Diabolism is truly titled: literally Olde Worlde is this black metal, entrancing as it is engaging. CURSED EXCRUCIATION cast spells at once ugly and ceremonial, seemingly crude in their dungeonic plunge but transcendental in final effect; physicality is real and wielded freely, just as it was in those fiery days of the early '90s. Unshackled from orthodoxy but bound by the Devil's power, all the witches will dance when CURSED EXCRUCIATION speak their Arcane Diabolism. 

Ltd. 150 copies, black vinyl with insert.

Iron Bonehead 2023