What’s On Tap: Very lo-fi, primitive deathish/blackish/punkish EP...

Fu-gly (fug’le) adj. 1. fucking ugly.

Curse of the Ghoul is f-u-g-l-y. This EP embraces repulsive elements in its tentacles, spews heavy tar on it, and hammers it into your ears behind a rusty railroad spike. Whether or not that’s something you look for in your music is obviously up to you to decide. Personally, I enjoy it, as it fully embodies the guttural hatred I so often feel for my fellow man, and actually helps me vent said frustrations when I listen to it. Healthy for me, and therefore healthy for those in my immediate vicinity.

What I found particularly interesting about this EP, however, is the fact that much of the material on display didn’t actually remind me of the traditional primordial/lo-fi metal I think it was actually intending to pay homage to. Strange? Yep, but regardless, nearly half of this little EP - particularly the title track and third cut, “Long Dead Fuck” – actually made me think I was listening to an incredibly muddy, live bootleg of Unsane, Jesus Lizard, or even Scissorfight, with a vocalist that basically eats the goddamned microphone at times instead of singing into it. But fans of the above-mentioned bands should be forewarned as well, because Curse of the Ghoul also throws a heavy nod towards classic primitive/minimalist records of yore, such as Von’s Satanic Blood Angel or Beherit’s Drawing Down the Moon, particularly on the last two tracks. In all honesty, it’s the material laid down on “Death, Black and Formless” and “As Below, So Above” that I sincerely hope the band focuses their future efforts on, as they both spotlight in earnest what might be the prize swine in the Deadhole sty; the bloody drummer. Both cuts also throw in some nice thrashy guitar elements to further spice things up, even going so far as to end the EP on a classic “Am I Evil”-esque march.
 
If I had to change just one thing about Curse of the Ghoul, I’d tap the vocals down in the mix a bit and ask for a little more vocal-vomit range here and there, but beyond that I’d say this devilish brick serves its master pretty damned well. At less than 15-minutes long, the EP offers up only a teensy taste of fetid, primordial deathish/punkish music, and whether or not it should land in your ‘to-buy’ pile simply depends on how badly you need your next fix. Oh, and from what I understand, the image on the cover of the record can also be found on the top of the vocalists’ head.  Beauty.