Close But No Cigar Part 3: Rotten Sound - Cursed

Round 3 of my Top 40 cuts finds Finnish grindsters Rotten Sound on the outside looking in. Their latest release, Cursed, (Relapse) is a 28 minute pummelling that deserves to make the Top 40. Unfortunately, 40 other bands delivered the goods as well. I've seen Rotten Sound referred to most often as a grind band but I think of them more as a Swedish (in this case Finnish) death metal band with hardcore sensibilities and on Cursed, a touch of Black Metal fervor. I first heard Rotten Sound on 2008's Cycles and my wife asked me, "What IS that?" (baffled, not intrigued) To which I responded with Rotten Sound. Of course. Her reply was "Yes it is. Rotten sounding." Nothing has really changed since then. Cursed sounds just as filthy, nasty and well, rotten as I would have expected. It barrels and stomps its way through 16 tracks relentlessly. It's a barn burner for sure. Trouble is, (and again I am trying to be nit-picky) it can be a little one-dimensional. But daddy loves that Swe-death tone! And really, coming in at just under 28 minutes, it is kind of impossible for the album to overstay its welcome. The March release date was both a blessing and a curse (hehe). It gave me lots of time to listen to it but with so many releases coming after it, despite it staying on my iPod all year, it kind of got lost in the shuffle until this past week. And even with bonus points for being vegetarian/vegan, that shuffling left Cursed closer to the bottom of the deck.

(Wow. That metaphor worked perfectly. I have 52 albums on my iPod right now.)

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Dismember, Cursed, Children of Bodom, Coldworker, Embrace the End

Dismember - Dismember: This is what death metal is supposed to sound like. Not overly fast, destructive guitar tone and low growled vocals. Old school rules. Thumbs up.

Cursed - Three Architects of Troubled Sleep: Not sure what to say here, I listened to it yesterday. They aren't easy to describe anyway. Other than they rule. It's Cursed!! The last track, Gutters, is worth the price of admission all by itself. Thumbs UP!

Children of Bodom - Blooddrunk: I thought I would see what all the fuss was about with COB. Well, I won't be fussing any. Laiho is a very talented guitarist, and to sing at the same time is an accomplishment. But, I found it was too overindulgent. Pointless guitar interludes and stuff. Sounded like Satriani or something like that. Thumbs down.

Coldworker - Rotting Paradise: Remember what I said about Dismember? Well, take that and speed it up. Well done you Swedes. Thumbs up.

Embrace the End - Ley Lines: Trying to hard. To many little things thrown into the songs. They break up any kind of flow. When will metalcore end? Thumbs down.