When I first started the Black Metal Archives, it was with one goal: To shine a light on bands and artists that would otherwise go under the radar. I have always felt a certain kinship to those kinds of artists, and even though the goalposts have changed somewhat due to the site now being approached by PR Companies on a daily basis, the heart of the Black Metal Archives will always be the same. Get ye to Bandcamp and find something new.

Well, this time the something new found me. Over on Instagram, a one-man black/satanic metal project, Zombies to Corruption, reached out and asked me if I would take a listen to their latest EP, The Cursed Pages. Which I did. And I’m glad I did. This is what I live for.

Seven tracks (Five full and two instrumental interludes) of raw, lo-fi, evil that doesn’t so much rock as it possesses and oozes in your veins.

Operating out of Wales, this solo project strips away every single modern recording safety net. The Cursed Pages sounds like something unearthed on an unmarked cassette tape from 1993, scratched, menacing, and utterly filthy. It doesn’t ask for your permission; it simply infects the room.

The EP opens with Chapter I – Journey To Uncharted Lands, immediately laying down a jagged, needle-thin guitar tone that feels like frostbite setting in. The riffs don’t follow clean studio grids; they swarm and bleed into one another, anchored by a relentless, galloping tempo that feels like a desperate midnight sprint through overgrown woodland.

By the time Chapter II – The Cursed Pages and Hidden Texts and Chapter III – A Sinister Arrival roll through, the atmospheric malice reaches a fever pitch. The vocals are pure subterranean rot, strangled, echoing shrieks that sound as if they were captured on an ancient room mic in a damp stone basement. Yet, despite the extreme lo-fi grime, there is a genuine sense of storytelling here. The brief instrumental interludes act as cold, quiet corridors between the outbursts of noise, giving you just enough room to catch your breath before the next wave of distortion hits.

Tracks like Chapter IV – Possession and Chapter V – Death and Eternal Suffering double down on pure, unadulterated satanic violence, leading into the bleak, dying embers of Chapter VI – The Crows Observe the Dead.

The Cursed Pages is a triumphant, dirty, and utterly feral release. It stands as a proud middle finger to slick commercialism and a massive win for DIY underground art. If you miss the days when black metal felt dangerous, anonymous, and genuinely unhinged, open Bandcamp right now and give this Welsh entity your time.