From the outset, Blessings and Curses tries to create a more unique sound for Non Est Deus compared to Noise’s other projects. While Legacy may lean a little too close to Kanonenfieber or Leiþa at times, this latest record makes a clear distinction between the new Non Est Deus and the old. Noise’s vocals are clean and crisp, sung entirely in English and never reach the gravity of Kanonenfieber or the tormented emotion of Leiþa. In fact, the first band that came to mind when they put out Blessings and Curses was Rotting Christ. At first glance, this looks like a clear step in a better direction for a project that needed a more unique identity, but on further inspection, it hinders the album at nearly every turn.
Blessings and Curses has a strong artistic foundation and conceptual structure, with three interludes (Prayer I, II and III, respectively) and psalms that run through every major track. The album gives off a sense of uniqueness, as it follows a devout believer who loses his way and grows disillusioned, directly mirroring the diptych on the album cover, as well as the record’s title. Beyond the stunning album cover, the musical evolution isn’t as striking as I’d hoped based on the concept, and Blessings and Curses is repetitive throughout. Nearly every track follows a similar structure, including choruses that repeat the same rhythm and emotional cadences in the majority of the songs. Noise returns to choruses that have a main line (usually the song title) followed by a “whispered” section that either repeats the same idea or just a small variation of it (“Show Mercy”, “My Lord”, “The Forsaken”, “The Indulgence”). It leaves Blessings and Curses sounding like someone trying to imitate Noise rather than Noise himself.
To Blessings and Curses’ detriment, the spoken-word sections return, and the album remains worse for it. The opening “Prayer I” feels entirely useless, and the interludes are so short that they make them feel like an afterthought. The psalms on each track also kill the momentum, usually placed toward the song’s finale. Derailing every track, the psalms are the vegetables before you get to the main course. While they serve the album conceptually, they’re half-baked throughout. The idea of splitting up the album is interesting, and the best tracks are in the second half, but Blessings and Curses is sonically stagnant.
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“Show Mercy” and “Forgive Me” (a highlight of the album) play with some very light black n’ roll elements, making me wish the first half had focused exclusively on that idea, leaving the second half to be an explosive blackened death beast. Unfortunately, neither half is all that different, sitting in that middle ground that sounds a bit like Noise on autopilot. None of the songs are bad, some are even excellent, but the album as a whole feels like it wastes a stunning idea.
