Plague Curse – Verminous Contempt Review

By Spicie Forrest

We’ve all been told, once or thrice, not to judge a book by its cover. As a species, we’re pretty good at doing it anyway. In metal circles, band logos and album art often follow certain tropes that let us quickly identify what we’re about to hear and set expectations accordingly. Except when they don’t. When I first saw the cover art for Verminous Contempt, I thought I had it pegged. I mean, rats? Green mystery fluid? Skulls? This was sewage-drenched death metal for sure. I was, of course, wrong. For their debut, Plague Curse instead offers a highly polished platter of blackened death metal. Irregardless of genre, however, the only question that matters here is, does it slap?

The heart of Verminous Contempt beats death, but its blackened influences are plenty vital. Bolt Thrown riffs, courtesy of Joe Caswell (Burden of Ymir), and Neil Schneider’s fully automatic drums offer a tank tread massage on “In the Shadow of Hate” and “Procession of Dead,” while “Amidst the Devastation” and “Hate Fuck Of Fornication and Malice” get their meat hooks in you like Cattle Decapitation in an asylum. Guitar licks in the skeletal, dissonant veins of Morbid Angel or Pestilence add a hunted sense of unrest (“Nocturnal Cruelty,” “Callous Abomination”). This would make for a decent record on its own, but well-placed blackened tremolos coalesce and melt away throughout the album like specters in a fog. “Umbrage Earned” and “Of Fornication and Malice” open with hellish, blackened salvos of Archspired urgency, but what’s particularly noteworthy about the former—and true to varying degrees across all of Verminous Contempt—is the way the band twists and warps death metal instrumentation to fit over black metal structures. While much of this record sounds like death metal, “Umbrage Earned” reminds me more of Watain from a compositional standpoint. Verminous Contempt isn’t just black metal and death metal played next to each other; Plague Curse creates a true blend of the two.

The instrumentals on Verminous Contempt are nothing to sneeze at, and neither is Nick Rossi’s vocal performance. His lows evoke Suffocation or Septicflesh, while highs are closer to Cattle Decapitation or Mental Cruelty. Rossi even gets brutally low on “In the Shadow of Hate” and “Callous Abomination.” He’s got an impressive toolkit. And whether low, high, or somewhere in between, he’s phlegmy and wet, not unlike Lik. It brings an unrefined, unhinged edge to an album whose production is otherwise pretty clean. The added grit does wonders for Plague Curse’s sound, creating much-needed texture across Verminous Contempt. Rossi’s standout performance is occasionally a detriment, however, as a few instrumental sections struggle to hold their own in his absence (“Procession of Dead,” “Reigning in Ruin”).

Verminous Contempt is an energetic and dynamic album. Riffs abound, both searing like Spectral Wound (“Most Vile”) and crushing like Immolation (“Callous Abomination”). Whether slinging neoclassical hooks (“Most Vile”), creating blackened tension (“In the Shadow of Hate”), or expertly shifting tempo (“Reigning in Ruin”), Caswell can count on Schneider and bassist George Van Doorn to provide a solid foundation upon which to drive each track. Transitions are well-timed and flow seamlessly, making the album an enjoyable and smooth listen end to end. Even tastefully and sparingly added dissonance incorporates well into the broader picture (“Reigning in Ruin,” “Nocturnal Cruelty”). But with such obvious songwriting prowess and tight construction, it’s a little frustrating to trudge through several minutes that should have been left on the cutting room floor, including the last third of “Reigning in Ruin” and the entire outro “Oderint Dum Metuant.”

I picked up Verminous Contempt expecting Foetal Juice, but was instead treated to an impressive mix of some of metal’s meanest sounds. Like being blindsided with a brick, Plague Curse comes out swinging and, with the exception of a couple of competent slowdowns, never lets up. Between noteworthy vocals and frenetic yet controlled instrumentation, Verminous Contempt is an enjoyable and easily consumed album. On their debut, Plague Curse establish themselves as a vicious but accessible contender in blackened death circles. With a more enthusiastic scalpel and a little more attention paid to instrumental passages, Plague Curse could easily be a future cornerstone of the genre.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Adirondack Black Mass
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: October 10th, 2025

#2025 #35 #AdirondackBlackMass #Archspire #BlackMetal #BlackenedDeathMetal #BoltThrower #BurdenOfYmir #CattleDecapitation #DeathMetal #FoetalJuice #Immolation #InternationalMetal #LIK #MentalCruelty #MorbidAngel #Oct25 #Pestilence #PlagueCurse #Review #Reviews #SepticFlesh #SpectralWound #Suffocation #VerminousContempt #Watain

Wednesday, September 24, 2025

https://activitypub.writeworks.uk/2025/09/wednesday-september-24-2025/

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Watch SUFFOCATION’s Entire Summer Breeze 2025 Show; Pro-Shot Video

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Wrecking Ball Metal Madness Returns With FROZEN SOUL, SUFFOCATION, DEVOURMENT & More

https://metalinjection.net/tour-dates/wrecking-ball-metal-madness-returns-with-frozen-soul-suffocation-devourment-more

#FROZENSOUL #SUFFOCATION #WreckingBallMetalMadnessReturnsWith #More #EP #MetalInjection #metal #music

🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on #KEXP's #VarietyMix

Suffocation:
🎵 Infecting the Crypts

#Suffocation

https://oncology.bandcamp.com/track/infecting-the-crypts-suffocation-cover

https://open.spotify.com/track/0rBMYJyYoQIX6ehQA3oTaM

Alcatraz Festival… wow. Four days gone in a heartbeat. 🤯🤘
Kick, Eus & Ralf: legends 🫶
Top 10 from days 3 & 4 coming right up:

Day 3:
1) #Psycroptic
2) #Suffocation
3) #RiversofNihil
4) #Leprous
5) #Vola
6) #BetweentheBuriedandMe
7) #Baest
8) #TheBlackDahliaMurder
9) #Evergrey
10) #Myrath

Day 4:
1) #Borknagar
2) #FearFactory
3) #Gaera
4) #CultofLuna
5) #Emperor
6) #DimmuBorgir
7) #MachineHead
8) #Tsjuder
9) #Prong
10) #KerryKing

Full photo report & concert review online soon!

Harvested – Dysthymia Review

By Tyme

Despite a waning stigma, mental illness remains an oft-closeted topic, as those suffering from it struggle not only to cope but to discuss their struggles with others. Here to shed some of their death metal light on the matter are Canadian upstarts Harvested, with their independent debut full-length Dysthymia, which, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine, is defined as a long-lasting form of mild depression. Touching on topics ranging from submitting to one’s long-bottled-up ‘shadow self’ (“Repressed Neurosis”) to the gluttonous way humans abuse the earth (“Unanchored”), something Harvested consider a form of mental illness, they’ve dialed back the lyrically gorier aspects of their eponymous 2022 EP to intensify the focus on their chosen theme. As evidenced by the beautifully rendered CJ Bertram cover art, which main guitarist Mitchi Dimitriadis says depicts ‘an individual in great mental turmoil’ and represents ‘the abstract visualization of the chaos that is the human brain,’ it’s clear that Harvested are committed to the subject. The only question left to answer is whether it’s worth reaping what Harvested’s Dysthymia hopes to have sown.

Nostalgically anchored in 1990s and early 2000s death metal, Harvested also incorporate modern elements of slam and tech-death into the mix to achieve Dysthymia’s goal. This is one brutal fucking record, and from the get, you realize Harvested aren’t messing about, as Dysthymia mashes the potatoes and pulls the meaty steaks off the grill, a muscle-bound manifestation of their Cannibal Corpse, Suffocation, and Deicide (“Harvested,” “The Infestation”) influences. Dimitriadis’ and Vitto Oh’s guitar harmonics are pinched harder than Grier‘s butt cheeks at an enema convention, ensorcelled by viscerally blistering riffs, technically proficient leads, and tornadic, swirling solos. Jacob Collins’ drums1 crack skulls and pummel sternums with whirling fills and destructive double-kicks while Eric Forget’s bass lines remember everything necessary to keep things rumbling along. Adam Semler’s vocals, primarily an homage to George Fisher’s chesty aggression and Glenn Benton’s demonic discernibility, also share elements with Cattle Decapitation’s Travis Ryan at his most high-pitched and raspy. For such a young band, Harvested have planted a flag on the death metal scene, and Dysthymia is the wind through which that flag furls, filled with exuberant, energy-filled performances and solid songwriting.

With highlights aplenty, Dysthymia demands attention by way of its genuine songcraft and near flawless execution. I found myself stank-faced and sweaty through many a listen, whether basking in the glow of galloping riffs and percussive bass on “Unending Madness” or taking in the detailed technicality of the Soreption and The Zenith Passage influenced “Designed Dilemma,” a song that chugs so hard through its last ninety seconds I nearly gave myself whiplash. My favorite track, “Gathered and Deluded,” is a Cattle Decapitation-tinted slammer with pinched harmonic progressions that have been living rent-free in my head for weeks as Forget’s bass marches in flurrying lockstep with Collins’ robotically precise drums, and Selmer channels his best inner Travis Ryan. Harvested is one tight-knit outfit, belying their relatively brief existence and sounding like a band that’s been together much longer.

I’d argue the efforts of Harvested’s “sixth member” deserve as much credit for the success Dysthymia should garner as the band themselves, and that is the excellent work Joe Lyko performed from the booth at Darkmoon Productions. Lyko’s mix and master slathers Dimitriadis’ and Oh’s guitar work in a tone that, for me, defies obvious comparison, as bright and bouncy as it is deadly and devastating. Like a calculated throat punch, it was the first thing that hit me when album opener, “Harvested,” launched, holding my rapt attention all the way through to “The Infestation,” an excellent close to Dysthymia’s very manageable thirty-two-minute runtime. Each instrument exists within its own space, breathing freely and intertwining with high-definition clarity, thereby topping this auditorily successful sundae with a big, fat, juicy cherry.

Lyrically poignant, brutally heavy, and bursting with engagingly twisted, hook-filled instrumentation, Dysthymia is a helluva debut, and one Harvested should be proud of. As poetically as I have waxed, I still believe there’s room for Harvested to grow. God help those who might lay their ears on a sophomore effort from this line-up, should they remain intact. Rest assured, I’ll definitely be watching and waiting. For now, however, I wholeheartedly recommend you spend some long-lasting, quality time with Dysthymia.

Rating: 3.5 / 5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320kbps mp3
Label: Self-Released
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram
Releases Worldwide: August 1st, 2025

#2025 #35 #Aug25 #CanadianMetal #CannibalCorpse #CattleDecapitation #DeathMetal #Deicide #Dysthymia #Harvested #Independent #Review #Soreption #Suffocation #TechnicalDeathMetal #TheZenithProcess

#DimmuBorgir
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#OrangeGoblin
#Suffocation
#Melvins
#TheChisel
#TheBrains
#ImperialTriumphant
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#Witchorious
03/08/2025

#Sylak #Sylak2025

https://www.purgatoire.fr/concerts/concert-597_2025-08-03_sylak-2025