4 out of 5

Produced by: Will Putney

Label: Candlelight

I get a tiny music boner when I listen to this record, it rocks so supremely.  VoD had been rocking the relative hardcore underground for a bit before formalization into something more mainstreamish seemed to fizzle their passions for a bit and the fellows went their separate ways to other music projects.  A billion years later, those other music projects bumped into one another and essentially started playing as Vision of Disorder again.  ‘The Cursed Remain Cursed’ popped up thereafter, and caused a lot of us metal kids to spit up on ourselves with glee.

While followup ‘Razed to the Ground’ would actually come closer to the sonic territory of ‘Imprint,’ one of the original, classic VoD albums, ‘Cursed’ is a more fully realized vision to me, carved out of raw noise into a beautifully concise 40 minutes of thrash, captured with an immediacy by Will Putney – friend to many heavy indie acts – which allows for VoD’s throttling energy (really their forte) to seize the listener by the shoulders (and / or throat, whatever) for 11 tracks and not let go.  Vision were somewhat criticized back in the day for taking the route they did, but I don’t disagree with the group members’ support of those changes as natural for the sound evolving with the group: there was, certainly, a bid for a more acceptable sound, but the exact kind of aggression produced early on would seem silly if applied in the same way year after year.  ‘Cursed’ does bring back some of those elements: songs sticking to a more traditional structure, some singing, some anthemic moments – but the difference seems to be that the time away has given the group and more seasoned understanding of how to incorporate all of that with their inherent brashness, resulting in some of the best goddamn fist-pumping moments in recent memory that straddle the lines between heavy rock, hardcore, and thrash.  The group’s skills and speed are on point, and Tim Williams maintains his edge with lyrics, hewing out thoughtful lines from some typical – but certainly relateable – topics, with just the right dash of Fuck Yous to, y’know, stay hardcore.

And though every track on ‘Cursed’ sticks out to me (versus ‘Razed,’ where some songs feel interchangeable in context of the album), I have to knock off a star for the entire package due to the bummer brought about by the first and last tracks: if there’s one thing ‘Cursed’ is lacking, it’s a sense of ebb and flow.  It kicks into high gear and mostly doesn’t stop, and the first and last tracks are necessarily the best entry or exit points for that type of presentation.  ‘Loveless’ lacks the kind of hooky chorus that elevates followup track ‘Set to Fail,’ and tries to stuff in a bit too many changeups as though to prove that VoD still got it, but just resulting in a track that sort of hiccups between styles.  And closer ‘Heart and Soul’ has some great breakdowns, but hits a hard stop at its midpoint to throw in a more soulful riff to lead to a conclusion, which, similar to the pairing of tracks 1 and 2, isn’t as organic in execution as its lead-in track, ‘Be Up On It.’  It’s an interesting criticism because both songs are still good, but some track shuffling might’ve made the album into a solid brick of rock that it certainly has all of the components to be.