Sleep While You Can. To open with such a portend implies that this is a restless prophecy from above. Then again maybe it’s just a play on the 90’s Rom-com Sleepless in Seattle. The home of Curse of the North.
Getting down and dirty with these rollicking eight tracks is anything but tiresome. Where soulful chord progressions groove through tried and tested melodies. There’s a lot of homage to days gone by with wannabe Eddie Vedder vocals but who is to say that’s a bad thing? It works. Christiiaan Morris is putting a lot of grit into the Darth Vader impression and it adds flavour, especially with how emotive and headstrong their conveyance is plied through the lyrics.
If you try playing Curse of the North in a game of Musical Charades you could probably be confused with the funk-soul Brummers Sabbath. I is heavy under influence. It’s a boon however. The atmosphere rolling in through this reverential hammering of choice is fraught with hooks hanging tough beef and ghastly bleeding, hitting the right tone every time.
A strong start and a heavy front really make this a soaring part of a new generation of heavy metal. It’s straightforward. It doesn’t fuck around licking your ears like a dog eager to get out and do a shit. It begins. It intensifies. It fucking rocks.
8/10
