Canada's loudest band Cursed have just released their third album
Architects of Troubled Sleep
. Forming back in 2002 after the break-up of grindcore heroes The Swarm, Cursed released their debut on Deathwish Inc. in 2003, and their second effort, the simply titled II, in 2005. Cursed as always mix their death and roll style hardcore with elements of doom and fast punk, making for a truely vicious affair. The main attribute that seperates this album from I and II is that it was recorded in analog, which allowed them to take their signature scathing sound to a more raw and violent place than before. There is something about the lo-fi production that just makes this album flat out terrifying. My favorite track on the album has to be "Magic Fingers". With it's opening drone of descending chords it sets the abyssmal landscape for the rest of the album. Lyrically Cursed return with the same bleak outlook on life. Combining both political and anti-religious sentiments, along with some new topics this time around. On "Friends in the Music Business" Colohan attacks the music industry by bellowing, "Don't wanna bite the hand that feeds, I wanna fucking break it off". Other lyrical themes range from urban living ("Into the Hive"), to the manipulation of our minds at the hands of authority figures ("Hegels Bastards"). Apart from the two instrumental tracks "III" and "Gutters" and the sludgy dirge of "Friends in the Music Business",
Architects of Troubled Sleep
never slows down. It goes for the jugular and never lets go. I give it a 4/5.
For fans of: The Swarm, Haymaker, Converge, Hope Conspiracy, and Left for Dead.
