This Gift Is A Curse/Hexis/MonotonstudioRecords/2015 Split 7 Inch Review

  This  is  a  review  of  a  split  ep  between  Sweden's  This  Gift  Is  A  Curse  and  Denmark's  Hexis which  was  released  on  vinyl  by  Moonotonstudio  Records  and we will  start  off  the  review  with  This  Gift  Is  A  Curse  a  band  that  has  been featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  mixture  of  black  metal,  sludge  and  hardcore.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  grim  black  metal  screams  that  are  in  the  background  but  dominate  once  the  music  gets  heavy  and  you can  also  hear  some  distorted  drones  and  once  the  music  speeds  up  it  goes  for  a  raw  style  of  black  metal  that  uses  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  the  vocals  also  mix  in  elements  of  hardcore  while  the  slower  sections  are  influenced  by  sludge  and  the  guitar  leads  are  melodic  and  add  in  a  touch  of  post  black  metal,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Swedish  and  cover  hateful  and  misanthropic  themes.

 In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  song  from  This  Gift  Is  A  Curse  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  black  metal,  sludge  and  hardcore,  you  should  check  out  their  side  of  the split.

  Next  up  is  Hexis  this  time  going  for  more  of  an  avant  garde  black  metal  mixed  with  hardcore  direction.

 Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  a  very  dark  and  heavy  sound  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sounding  very  powerful  and  after  awhile  the  music  brings  in  more  of  a  raw  post  black  metal  style  that  also introduces  high  pitched  screams  into  the  track and  you  can  also  hear  a  touch  of  modern  hardcore and  sludge,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

    In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  track  from  Hexis  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  post  black  metal,  hardcore  and  sludge,  you  should  check  out  their  song.

  In  conclusion  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split  and  I  would  recommend  it  to  all  fans  of  post  black  metal,  sludge  and  hardcore.  8  out  of  10.

https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/This_Gift_Is_a_Curse/3540335851
https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Hexis/3540341859

 

This Gift Is A Curse Interview

Questions answered by J.A Holmberg (vocalist) on behalf of THIS GIFT IS A CVRSE

1. Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?

A: We are currently writing new songs and are lying a bit low since
some of our members are preoccupied with other stuff at the moment,
such as trying to get new day jobs since one of us had to quit his old
one to be able to tag along on the tour we made last month. One of our
members is in Namibia as we speak, doing field research/collecting
rocks(?). We are going on a mini-tour now in December here in Sweden
together with the band BLESSINGS from Gothenburg (Side project by
members of hardcore outfit ANCHOR and post-post rockers SCRAPS OF
TAPES). We also have new, exciting plans for the spring that we
unfortunately cannot announce just yet.

2. How would you describe the musical sound of the newer material and
how it differs from previous releases?

A: After our CDEP was released, a lot of writers/blogs described our
music as post-metal or even drone-metal, but our intension was  never
to only focus on writing “slow epic”-songs - it just happened to turn
out that the songs we were most satisfied with and chose to record at that time
fell into that category. When we wrote songs for “I, Guilt Bearer” we
were really keen on exploring more sides to our song writing than just
making slow parts. We wanted to play fast songs as well as slow heavy
stuff. We didn't want to get stuck in just one lane, so to say,
therefore we allowed ourselves to experiment a lot more with the
songwriting concerning the full-length album.  Another thing that felt
important was to make sure the recording felt “transparent” and raw in
its sound, so we worked hard to get the right vibe on every instrument
and detail in the sound. Maybe the best thing about the recording
session was that we didn't really have any time limits, thus we could
record for as long as we wanted at any time during the day or night.
We didn't record in an actual studio; instead we got our producer (M.
Björk) to put up his recording-contraptions at a location of our
choice (A secret bomb shelter north of Stockholm).  This was a great
help for us since we could work more intensely and still not have to
worry about the studio hours just ticking away.

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores
with the new release?

A: If you compare the CDEP to our album “I, Guilt Bearer”, the work on
certain themes and subjects are clearer on the album. The CDEP was
just four songs we choose to record from many others we had at that
time. “I, Guilt Bearer” is a theme-album about the clash between human
nature and human social culture and structures. “Us”, as carriers of
the agony that gets created when trying to fill the gaps of these two
classical fronts of human duality. We have just started to lay out the
themes for song lyrics and general themes for next coming album but
it's not totally clear to us what it will concern at this moment

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the band’s name?

A: Everything and nothing… Everyone seems to have their own theories
and ideas. So let it be.

5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and
how would you describe your stage performance?

A: We had a bunch of great shows on our last tour together with our
buddies in HEXIS (Denmark). I really like to visit countries I've
never been playing in before, such as Spain and Portugal. I think the
whole band agreed to that it was great coming there after two rainy
weeks on the British Isles. The organizers as well as the audiences
were great in Spain and Portugal as well; they really seemed to be
into our stuff.  I also enjoyed playing in France since, after Sweden,
it is the country where we sell most records and merch (By
mail-order). We also got a bunch of good reviews from France
concerning both our releases, and it seems that we have a small, but
genuine fan base there. Switzerland was also a blast, as well as a
country I never got the pleasure to visit before this tour. I also
fancied Ireland a lot. But I guess it's foremost not about the
specific countries in general, more about certain venues and good
organizers, as well as a good crowd turning up at the shows.

6. Do you have any touring plans for the future?

A: We have some plans for the spring, but we are working with
them as we speak, so we cannot leave any further details about them at
this time. If everything works out as intended it will be a blast,
though.

7. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by
fans of underground metal?

A: Fairly good, I would say. They bad reviews have been from
people/journalists/writers that don’t know where to place us. The
discussion often sounds as following: “Are they really black metal?”
or “Are they hardcore?” and etc. The nice thing about that is that we
get booked at many different types of shows and that they write about
us in many different forums, so frankly we really don't care about
that categorization-thingy…

8. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?

A: The new stuff that we’ve made so far is, seems to me anyway, rawer and
maybe a bit more direct and simple in its “form”. But since it’s still
pretty early in the process we might over-fuck ourselves in the end
anyway. Usually when we think things sound a certain way while people
tend to tell us the very opposite… Here is a new song that we tried
out on our last tour:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNaw9ZGNux0&feature=player_embedded…
decide for yourself.

9.What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your
music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

A: We all come from different musical backgrounds and thus listen to a
lot of various things, as well as we share the same kind of things
when it comes to certain music. Myself, I come from a more
hardcore/punk oriented background whilst our drummer Johnny comes from
an old school black metal-heading-into-shoegaze/postrock-kind of
background. Johnny in general despises all heavy music that is made
after the 1990s, just for the very sake of it. And he hates all “punk”
bands I listen to. He’s really into synth ridden proto-symphonic-black
metal bands, which only sings about walking in the snow. Don´t get me
wrong, ‘cause I’m really into black metal, just not all the bands he
started listen to as a kid. Lars (bass) and Pace (guitar) both comes ironically enough
from a marching band background and then started playing in various
death and thrash metal underground acts in and around Stockholm in
their late teens. Now days Lars mostly listens to “suicide blackmetal”, Man´O´War, Frank Zappa or Swedish old school hippie proggmusic. Pace listen to most stuff but recently have been most into Swedish d-beat bands, 70-rock and really technical metal stuff.  It´s quite a mix but we have some bands we all share… The idea of THIS GIFT
started out as a d-beat punk rock-project but we all really didn´t click
until we started playing our songs in half pace and when I really got
into certain proto-satanic text and some sociological/psychological thinkers which I started to link to what we were doing in the band.

10. How would you describe your views on Occultism?

A: First of all I just have to make clear I´m more or less atheist.
That counts for everyone in the band as well, except for one member
that is semi-practicing Buddhism for “cultural reasons”. The thing
that drew me to the “occult field” in the beginning was an attraction
of “powers” beyond my comprehension or understanding. If it´s “real”
or not I really don´t care about. The occult awareness and
consciousness is really interesting and can be a very interesting way
to question your understanding of your world, both on the inside as
well as outside. The meta-physical-state. A lot of the things in this
field are hard for me to relate to and I can merely understand it at
all, but I was always drawn do the dualism between man and its nature.
It really didn’t become real for me/us in the band until we started to
make out our own symbolic “language” with our on “rites” connected to
the symbols of our choosing. Instead of just take things from
Occultism we made them “ours”. We defined what were our “temples” and
our “symbols”. In this way things got “real” to us and the way we from
now own interpreted the “world” and it´s phenomenon - through our
lyrics, music and art connected to the band. We try to think holistic in all we do as a band. Sometimes I feel that we actually did not become THIS GIFT IS A CVRSE until we found these “things” and managed to connect them to the “art” we are making.
Things get even more “real” when “the others”, the audience, sees
these “symbols” and have their own interpretation of what we do with
THS GIFT IS A CVRSE. What that might be is not that important I think,
is more of an individual thing. This is what I really like with Occult
communication on a subconscious level. It speaks differently to each
mind. It´s very anarchistic and egocentric but still not cause it´s a
“mass thing” – this really fascinates me.  At the moment I´m very
influenced by chaos gnosis-understanding and the 218-current, I´m not
really sure what it will take me/us.

11. Outside of music what are some of your interests?

A: Music and trying to get by with work and school takes up most of
our time. I do some designs for bands and indie record labels. The
other band members are involved in various music projects. The bass
player for instant has a sleeping-cell grindcore project with the
Sheriff in HEXIS and the drummer from AGRIMONIA/MIASMAL.

12. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview

A: Thanks for the attention you are willing to give this band. And
thanks for your support and interest.

This Gift is A Curse/I, Guilt Bearer/Discouraged Records/2012 CD Review

  This  Gift  Is  A  Curse  are  a  band  from  Sweden  that  mixes  raw  and  primitive  sounding  occult  black  metal  with  sludge  and  hardcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2012 album  "I  Guilt  Bearer"  which  was  released  by  Discouraged  Records.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  some  blast  beats  being  thrown  into  the  music  at  times, while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  is  coming  out  of  the guitars  and  at  times  they  have  a   powerful  sound  to them.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  riffs  that  combine  raw  and  primitive  sounding  occult  black  metal  with  sludge  and  hardcore  to  create  a  sound  of  their  mixed  in  with  a good  amount  of  heavy  distortion  as  well  as  a  great  amount  of  drone  soundscapes  and  there  are  no  guitar  solos  or  leads  present  on   this  recording.

  Vocals  range  from  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  to  sludge/hardcore  screams,  growls  and  shouts  as  well  as  a  brief  spoken  word  part  that  is  utilized  at  the  end  of  the  last  song,  while  the  lyrics  cover  occultism,  darkness  and  violent  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  dark,  heavy,  raw  and  primitive  sound  to  it  with  some  of  the  songs  being  long  and  epic  in  length  and  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording.

  In  my  opinion  This  Gift  is  A  Curse  a  very  great  and  original  sounding  hybrid  of  raw  and  primitive  occult  black  metal,  drone,  sludge  and  hardcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan of t hose  musical genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Inferno'  "Inferno  Ad  O"  "Deceiver"  and  "I  Will  Swallow  All  Light".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

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