Cursus Bellum is a new two piece from Sweden comprising of former members of Sgt. Carnage. This debut EP “Accusing The Dead” is 5 tracks coming in at just under 25 minutes. Here you get not unusual but competent of blackened death metal in the vein of Angelcorpse and a slightly less technical Immolation.

Opening track ‘Engineering The Apocalypse’ bludgeons the eardrums nicely enough with its nightmarish riffs. ‘The wolf’ is really cool. This track changes pace and builds up to a climax. ‘Accusing the dead’ carries things on nicely and manages to inject a bit of melody without losing any intensity. ‘Death from above’ is slightly shorter than the other tracks and is a bit straighter forward in approach. Closer ‘Defiance In Ashes’ is where they really throw everything they’ve got at you, on this track they play just that bit faster, just that bit more frantic and they bring everything to a slightly dragged out close. Just like a great live set.

All in all this is a pretty intense, dark and chaotic release. It’s nice and raw and dirty. It has that organic live feel. If you are a fan of Incantation, Dead Congregation or Angelcorpse be sure to check this little EP out.