CURBEATERS are/were kind of like “the father you never saw and didn't know was there, but suddenly he knocks at your door“. At least that's kind of like the case to well-known German acts BLACK SHAPE OF NEXUS, IRA, PLANKS and ULTHA.
The history:
In 2002 all members of the project spent a lot of time on a German message board for underground DIY punk/hardcore/metal and they mutually knew each other from shows and festivals. Several ideas for projects were founded by memebrs of that board – non ever really gave birth to a record. Tom, Andy and Geb met for one weekend to praticse and record a few ideas. Ralph was supposed to play bass but couldn't make it to that weekend. So the remaining members recorded the three tracks on this very record. There was never another proper rehearsal or plans to commence the band, but the instrumental tracks made their way through various channels and always got great feedback. The originally intended singer never made it to record vocals, so the whole thing just kind of faded to a distant memory and all members went on to play in some of the most well-known acts in German DIY metal/doom.
Fast forward to 2016: Andy and Ralph both ended up in Cologne, playing together in a black metal band called Ultha. Andy is a professional recording enginieer and always kept up hope to actually finish the songs at some point. After an intital push by Timo (Golden Antenna Records) a few years back, to have Ralph record the vocals, the idea popped back up in 2016. Andy just opened his Goblin Sound Studio and Ralph is fairly well known for his trademark lyrics and vocal performance in now defunct Golden Antenna Records act Planks. Ralph wrote some lyrics and tried out the vocals – it turned out to be a perfect match for the three doom laden sludgy rock songs.
Now hell froze over and Andy's persistance paid off: 'Time Is Unforgiving', a three song EP and the result of more than 15 years in the making. Limited to 300 records on vinyl distributed by the label which played a major part in why this thing came together after all these years.
CURBEATERS consisted of
TOM (Ex-Ira, Ex-Blindspot aD.)
ANDY (Ex-Ira, Ex-Blindspot aD, now Ultha)
GEB (Ex-Black Shape Of Nexus)
RALPH (Ex-Planks, now Ultha)
lyrics
Every soul is looking for a proof,
a proof the world is a little better with you in it.
This doubt succeeds...
it bleeds for hours.
This doubt succeeds...
it sleeps for days.
And all of a sudden
there is this urge
to open up to everyone.
This soul is heading down,
down towards none,
down towards nothingness,
where everyone is beautiful
because everyone is dying.
This love for everything that made you leave.
This love for everyone who left you bruised and bitter.
credits
from CURBEATERS - 'Time Is Unforgiving' (EP),
released April 5, 2017
Curbeaters:
Tom: drums
Andy: guitars, bass, keyboards
Gebbo: guitars
Ralph: vocals
-Drums, guitars and bass recorded by Markus Aschenbrenner at Burnt-Out Studio, Friedrichshafen 2003
-Keyboards and Vocals recorded by Andy Rosczyk at Goblin Sound, Cologne 2016
-Mixed and Mastered by Andy Rosczyk at Goblin Sound, Cologne 2016/2017
-All Songs written and performed by Curbeaters
-All lyrics by Ralph Schmidt
-Artwork by Thomas Reitmayer
Thanks to all people involved with making this record possible and for your patience. It only took us 14 years to finish. A special salute to Timo Siems, Markus Aschenbrenner, Thomas Reitmayer and Pat Trieb. Regards to Shipping Nails- how is your record coming along?
Swirling guitars, furious drums, vocals that at the same time howl from infinite distance and are right up in your head; everything put into dissonant form with the help of unconventional songwriting. This album is my personal key to the icelanding black metal madness that I've ignored for way too long! Lukas Kaufmann
Gaerea's first release of "Unsettling Whispers" was in 2018, and since, they dared define a "black metal" niche of their own, they dared to walk a new path and stir shit up a bit in the realm of BM, this album is a masterpiece and a milestone proving that it can be done, provided the band can pull it off, and they did, oh they did! Gloomy, dark, post-BM sludgy whatever, it's Gaerea, and this one belongs in my BC collection, the end. sachavonkarl74
PSA: if there was an album you heard a couple years ago and thought it was ok, listen to it again and you might love it.
That's what happened to me with this album. I cannot fathom why it didn't stick with me back then. Same thing happened with Decoherence's Unitarity for that matter. Matten
More bleak, enveloping atmospheric black metal from the masters at the Vendetta label, “aevum” is both harrowing & strangely beautiful. Bandcamp New & Notable Sep 30, 2019
Brooding black metal on Vendetta records, Svartmálm slow the genre’s core ingredients and add bracing emotional heft. Bandcamp New & Notable Jul 20, 2018