Har is a Berlin-based blackened death metal of Israeli descent who formed in 2014. After a demo and a couple of EPs, the band is ready to launch their full-length debut album “Cursed Creation.”
With a runtime of just over 30 minutes across 8 tracks, the album is a breakneck piece of searing music that offers no respite—it starts off hard and just doesn’t stop with the exception of the interlude “Infernal Passage,” but even that one offers abrasive noise that bridges the gap to the next two songs of utter annihilation.
The echo on the vocals is perfect—just enough to give it an arcane, haunted feel without going overboard and taking away their brutal performance. I really like the production as well. It’s certainly not clean but neither is it too raw. Its own balance lets the guitar tones carry a real bite and provides the bass/drums with a heft to their tone. Listen to this album with headphones and will definitely fill up the space around you.
The songs are riff based, as evident with the opening song, “Submerged In Cacophony,” and its wonderfully evil tone cast upon the riffs. They are just groovy enough but still retain a musically serrated edge instead of a thicker tone. The drums sound equally as engaging, a classic style especially the sound of the snare. After the 3:23 mark, the song kicks up the depravity and ends with a battlefield of guitars, marked by the cannon fire of the drums.
The album is at its best when the songs seemed to feed off the frenzy of the drums, the entire band pushing towards an epicenter. “Chronocide” captures this feeling well while throwing in a curve ball of catchy riffs around the 58 second mark—massive and doomy.
The band pulls it off again with “Poisonous Entity.” The first half is a dizzying array of riffs, bass and drums; it’s extremely thick, swelling to the breaking that’s at the 1:51 mark. This passage has wave after wave of rhythmic power, hammered in further by the drums and complemented by the lead guitar. The band’s ability to use the instruments to build layers that compliment each other is impressive, creating a sound that is always chaotic.
The final song, "Metaphysical Stench", is my favorite of the album. I like the slower opening that steadily builds up until the song is the soundtrack of an earthquake’s deep rumble. The slight melodic tinge near the end is another highlight before letting the chaos fully take over.
Nothing on the album is mind blowing or reinvents any wheels but I’m pretty sure that isn’t the point of the album. If you want blackened death that is100% uncompromising that checks off all the boxes for underground extremity then “Cursed Creation” is the album for you.
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