Curse All Kings – Feral Earth (Review)

When talking about the place where I live, I often have to admit that it would be an overstatement to call it idyllic or quaint. To be more precise, whenever I’m a little further away from where I live and I start off heading my way back home (especially by bike), I tend to call the place I’m travelling to the “infernal heights” of our home. Why do I do that? Well, primarily because we live right next to a brown coal power plant that was in the spotlights of a group of activists a few weeks ago. Since this is not enough already, there is also a garbage incinerator right next to the power plant. Some of you might know already what place I’m talking about and as you can imagine, these closer surroundings are not the most beautiful landscapes. This doesn’t even change when switching from one city to another. When heading to work in the morning, I know that I start off at what I described already and when I arrive, it doesn’t improve too drastically. Right at the outskirts of those cities, though, at the very spot when I transfer from one city to another, there are a few vistas that might convey the impression that nature is capable of timidly capturing back landscapes. Right at this transition is also where I often listened to Curse All Kings‘ latest release Feral Earth.

This is the third full-length output by Berlin-based Black Noise collective Curse All Kings surrounding Rob Bees Fisk, head of Atmosphere and Black Metal focused label BreathSunBoneBlood (which also released highlights such as Kluizenaer or Rană). On this release, though, the collective was radically increased with the implementation of Fabian Van Beek (who was also in charge for the logo of Transcended Music Blog), Bryan Bay (Gates, Suekh Hexen) and Edie (La Haine, Common Eider King Eider). It goes without saying that the expectation alone rises already when reading a collective increasing by numerous musicians that will automatically bring in their personal musical background. 

At this point you might already be wondering why we opened up reading about the urban environment that makes up the distance I have to pass on my way to work. When going a little further into detail regarding Feral Earth, this might be clear pretty quickly. The self-description of this release compares listening to this full-length to a hungry fox walking the filthy inner city streets at 4 AM – and I totally fell for this characterization. Going by the setting of this soundscape right at the contestation between urban space and nature forcibly reclaiming its area, it felt as if the imagery I witnessed while listening to this album couldn’t have been more fitting. 

The first track “As the Spirits Watch Over Us, We Reciprocate” initially takes a deep breath before unfolding the first subtle and aetheric chants upon the listener. Elements of beauty and dread are intertwined while feeble harmonics in the background are occasionally interrupted by animal screeches until distorted guitars add a fragile Black Metal layer on top of the foundation. While the beginning of the track felt as if there was an entity brooding in the nocturnal background, the introduction of the guitars conveys the impression of a sudden discharge of energy. On “Ünmaal,” the atmospheric soundscape of the first track is prolonged but now revolves around a recurring faint bell that partly leads through this track. While listening, it is not possible to find out whether this bell is actively ringed by a living entity or if the wind adopts this part. It certainly offers the supposition of some kind of possible impending doom, though. This suggestion is strongly verified when entering the third track “Wounds of Land and Body,” which drastically alters the tone of this release by vigorously introducing a raw Black Metal sound with a slight tendency towards a US playstyle and production on top of the introductory soundscape. It feels as if we witness the wrath of something or someone and going by the energy on this track it could also be considered the climax of this album. 

After the outburst that marked the third track and its aftermath on “Feral Spirits Rise,” the sound changes radically, moving towards what could rather be considered a synth basis. The soundscape that marked the first half of this album transported the idea of sonical elements that were rooted in or impacted by nature. The almost close to dungeon synth warm tone on “As The Earth Holds You” then feels slightly more artificial rather than stemming from a natural sonical environment. Still, beauty and doom are inextricably linked on this track again, which is why the overall emotion that is transported cannot be pinned down either to possible optimism or mysterious impending disaster. This eventually changes on the final track “The Veil Between The Forest and Glade,” on which those diverging environments are brought together with the overall synth tone of the track before and primal outbursts that can be heard in the background. 

It is difficult to find cohesive words when talking about this release in the sense that the atmospherical foundation is, on the one hand, rather minimalistic but, on the other hand, succeeds to unfold a wide variety of sonical environments that individually convey very different perspectives. The dichotomies that are omnipresent on Feral Earth are overwhelming. Be it between nature and artificial environment or on a meta level between beauty and chaos itself. I highly suggest, though, to listen into this release yourself, since the subtle levels on which all of those aspects take place are more than difficult to put into words.

This album was co-released by BreathSunBoneBlood and Cyclic Law on a beautifully crafted limited to 200 handmade A5 CD package as well as on a limited to 100 white and a limited to 200 black vinyl pressing.

At the end of this month, Curse All Kings will also bring their music to the second international Antifascist Black Metal Gathering that is once again taking place in Bern, Switzerland. If you planned to go to this show that brings forth quite a strong line-up, make sure not to miss the atmosphere that is crafted by Curse All Kings.