What’s your opinion on deathcore? If you’re like me, you might awkwardly shuffle your feet and say you’re not a fan… BUT, Thy Art is Murder and Despised Icon are pretty fucking cool… Shadow of Intent also put out a pretty awesome album this year… and Infant Annihilator are pretty brutal… What I’m getting at here is that deathcore is something of a guilty pleasure for me, and there’s certainly lots to be enjoyed if you’re willing to look past the Suicide Silences and Bring Me the Horizons of the world. Cursed Sun are one of the bands that will most likely be overlooked by genre snobs, and that’s a damn shame considering The Amygdala is a fun, concise slab of thrashy deathcore.
Kicking off with the wonderfully-titled “Breeding From the Bleeding,” Cursed Sun reveal their MO right off the bat: they wanna play sweet riffs, and play them loud. “Breeding From the Bleeding” is a groovy, headbangable, mid-paced track that sets the tone for the rest of the EP. They don’t set out to be the heaviest band, nor do they want to the most technically complex or atmospheric band out there. All they wanna do is make you throw the horns and bang your head, and by those criteria, The Amygdala is a success.
I should point out, however, that it’s not without its flaws. The vocals sit between gruff, cleanly sung thrash vocals, and hardcore barks by way of Phil Anselmo, and the result is definitely an acquired taste. They’re not a deal breaker, though, and on most tracks they range from passable to good. The one exception however is the title track. Its attempt at southern-fried rock is hampered even further by the cleanly sung vocals. The yowling has a gruffer tone to it, though I still can’t help but think of Metallica’s ill-informed cowboy aspirations from the nineties when I hear them. By the song’s end, however, it turns into a thrashier tune with enough death metal influence to pull me back in, and the righteous solo certainly doesn’t hurt.
My favourite track on the EP is by far “Primordial Chaos.” Opening with a very effective spoken word intro that brings to mind the cheesiest of extreme death metal, it launches into a staccato riff bolstered by some guttural backing vocals and and pounding drums. The riffs are nothing ground-breaking, but they certainly do their job. That job, of course, being to make you bang yer fuckin’ head like your life depends on it. When the breakdown hits, it hits like a punch to the gut and its my favourite moment on the entire EP.
The EP’s final song is an acoustic bonus track, and while it’s not quite my cup of tea, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it if acoustic songs are your bag. All told, The Amygdala is a fun, yet flawed appetite whetter in between albums that never sets out to do more than make you wanna mosh. It knows its limits, and for the most part it plays within them. It’s hardly perfect, but if you’re looking for a violent fun time, I wholeheartedly recommend it.
You can purchase The Amygdala from Cursed Sun’s Bandcamp page.
Thanks vmuch for the review.🤘