At once both harrowingly aggressive and defiantly forward-thinking, Skaldic Curse have continually strived to push the boundaries of black metal whilst never forgoing the fundamental fury of the genre. The band have walked a distinctly unique path throughout the seven years of their existence and have faced adversity, misunderstanding and confusion with typical contempt. Skaldic Curse was formed in early 2001 by guitarists Astynax and VX – two individuals united by a desire to create violent, discordant and progressive black metal. The band was expanded later that year with the addition of Theutus on drums and Monolith on bass. Vocalist Woundz, responsible for many of the bands concepts, completed the line up. Later that year, the band recorded a 2-track promotional cassette ‘Funereal Eclipse’ that despite its primitive sound quality, hinted at the progressive paths that the band would subsequently follow. Early 2002 saw the recording of the ‘Hated by Matter Itself’ EP which developed further the experimentation with discordant soundscapes and unpredictable structures.
In early 2004, Skaldic Curse recorded the ‘Contagious Psychic Misery’ EP at Astynax’s own Shockwave Studios. The EP was a significant evolution of the band’s sound and it was subsequently released on cassette by the respected underground French label Forgotten Wisdom Productions. During these early years, the band played a number of shows in support of high-profile acts within the extreme metal scene such as Cathedral and Enslaved. Nevertheless, despite these positive steps forwards towards the band’s goal of spreading their negativity as far as possible, by 2004 guitarist VX had lost interest and subsequently left the band by mutual decision. The band decided to proceed as a four-piece and in 2005, began work on their debut album ‘Pathogen’ which was recorded in the summer of 2005, again at Shockwave studios.
The start of 2006 saw some major changes to the Skaldic Curse line-up with drummer Theutus being replaced by Vermin. At this time of upheaval, it was decided to return to a two-guitar line-up and the increased sonic opportunities that this approach afforded – thus Scapula (ex-Akercocke) was recruited. ‘Pathogen’ was finally released by Forgotten Wisdom in late 2006 to widespread acclaim within the underground and was followed by the band’s first live performance in over a year and a half in February 2007 in support of Skyforger – a sell-out show and one which marked this latest incarnation of Skaldic Curse as the most effective yet.
In August 2007, armed with the most intense and intricate material written thus far, the band entered Z1 Studios in London with producer/engineer Jaime Gomez (ex-Dam, ex-Corpsing) to record the follow-up to Pathogen, ‘World Suicide Machine’. A week later, the album was completed – six lengthy tracks of twisted, progressive black metal intended to drag the listener into a disturbing yet captivating musical journey whilst the conceptual wordscapes of Woundz portray a reality of desolation, violence and the eradication of humanity. The musical development on this latest album is immediately apparent – the interplay between the guitars of Astynax and Scapula is intriguing, scouring great furrows of discordance, underpinned by Monolith’s distinctively growling bass work. The percussive thunder of Vermin meanwhile handles the various intricacies of the songwriting with ease, affording the material a forceful momentum. Into the maelstrom are thrown the vocals of Woundz, adopting myriad inhuman voices to express his sermons of destruction and hatred. A deal with the prestigious black metal label Candlelight Records swiftly followed and this latest slice of sonic disease is now ready to be unleashed.