The Ultimate Review of The Blackest Curse

More so than To Die For, The Blackest Curse is Integrity's true comeback. On it, Integrity delivers an album to the standard of their previous achievements while adding new wrinkles to a formula that grows ever darker as the decades pass on. Since relocating to Europe, the already warped and twisted visions of Integrity frontman Dwid Hellion have taken on a specifically blacker turn. Lacing his heavily thrash-infested hardcore punk with a new black metal aesthetic, Dwid takes The Blackest Curse to heights not reached since Seasons In The Size Of Days.

Scorching white hot, needles full in the red, to the fullest extent of lo-fi possible, The Blackest Curse roars out "The Process Of Illumination" and immediately the subtle new bag of tricks unfold: blackened grey-toned riffs and blast beats invigorate the Slayer-meets-Bad Brains style, magnifying the power and pressure. Dwid buries his vocals more, his throat shredded, time worn voice as ragged and furious as ever, though no longer overpowering the music. "Through The Shadows Of Forever" shutters with a charged atmosphere of intense, raw hardcore aggression tempered on the anvil of crossover thrash metal. Integrity nails this style in a manner few can compete with. Hell, "Simulacra" nicks a Napalm Death riff and the caustic stew of influences keeps brewing. "Simulacra" is a nasty track with measured breakdowns and an insanFinal Score: 71 / 100