Blackened death metal and ferocity goes together as well as gasoline and a pyromaniac. If the metal ain’t ferocious, I don’t want none. Israeli/German band Har takes this philosophy and runs with it on their debut album Cursed Creation, wasting absolutely no time with intros and comes shredding right out the gate on “Submerged into Cacophony”. Most of the songs continue in this breakneck pace, often recalling other acts such as Concrete Winds, especially on “Invoking Evil Spirit” with its blistering, lightning-fast lead sections and solos. No wheels are being reinvented here, and Cursed Creation is overall a solid debut album that gives the listener a lesson in savagery for just about thirty minutes before making an unseemly exit without so much as a glance in the destruction in its wake.
The biggest highlight of Cursed Creation is brevity. None of these tracks are very long, and most of them do a fantastic job at conveying the multilayered chaos the artwork portrays — done by the talented Tim Grieco (Antediluvian, Black Death Cult). The first half of Cursed Creation demonstrates Har at their best, and in particular “Invoking Evil Spirit” is exactly what I want from them. Amidst the swirling chaos of blitzing guitars and drums, vocalist O.S is fantastic, and retains a great performance throughout the remaining tracks. Unfortunately, there are a few glaring issues I have with Cursed Creation, no matter how fun it generally is. The first is “Infernal Passage”, which doesn’t benefit the rest of the album by being there. An interlude on a thirty minute album is fluff, and would be best used as either a proper song or cut out entirely. The other problem I notice is that the back half of the album tends to stumble a bit in quality.
While the first five tracks are great, the remaining three don’t retain that level. After the interlude, “Shachat – Seven Halls of Defilement” and “Metaphysical Stench” are rather forgettable, which is a shame, as the majority of Cursed Creation is a wild ride that threatens to go completely off the rails. However, these shortcomings don’t stop Har from delivering a promising debut album, and they’re a band that I will continue to follow as long as they continue making good music. If anything, they should be even more unhinged on future releases, because that aural chaos is where they shine.
