I, Guilt Bearer… This Gift is a Curse LP review

So many bands are popping of late melding black metal and hardcore. Sure, the concoction has existed for a long, long time but in recent years, a particular breed has become more and more prominent, particularly since the fantastic Celeste released their first album “Nihiliste(s)” in 2008. Meshing some Crowpath-like dissonance, severely crushing heaviness and the important BM soaked atmosphere, bands like The Secret and Hexis have been really grabbing the spotlight of late, particularly the latter.

So where do Sweden’s This Gift Is A Curse fit into all of this? There are a couple of answers to that question. Firstly, they’ve certainly taken the necessary ingredients and hurled them all into the one pot. However at the same time, the end result isn’t quite the same demented, yet enthralling, listen as Celeste and Hexis. In a sense, their first LP “I, Guilt Bearer” (or stylised as Gvilt) is a little more reserved than that. That’s not to say that the band are tame, certainly not, however the levels of dissonance and chaotic arrangements has been reeled in somewhat. But when first track “The Swarm” erupts to open the LP, it is still clear that this is a band more than willing to attempt to throw caution to the wind if given the fullest opportunity.

One of the more interesting elements of this record is the doomy inspired passages that are peppered throughout, dipping every so often from the searing hail of BM imbued hardcore. Of course, despite the crushing heaviness of “I, Guilt Bearer”, the album is also marked with eerie melody that complements the coarse din elsewhere. All on paper it sounds like a treat and there is a fair share of tracks on this record that live up to the expectations laid out before it.

However the album still flounders in equal parts. When “The Swarm” bleeds into the second track “Inferno Ad O”, there’s little to indicate that a new song has started. Meanwhile, “Att Hata Allt Mänskligt Liv” plods long for just a little too long and ‘Deceiver’ with its ambient synth-like whirrs is inessential to the album and just feels like filler.

Although, album closer, “I Will Swallow All Light” is a grand piece that utilises the band’s doom tendencies fully as slow, deathly, agonisingly verses give way to hypnotic melodic guitars, which scale and scale in intensity for a majestic, yet still harrowing curtain call. This is the band truly at their finest. “I, Guilt Bearer” is a record with plenty of attention grabbing moments but moments of filler often soil the album’s potential too. Hit and miss.

The LP has been released through Enjoyment Records and Bloated Veins and is streaming in full on their Bandcamp.