Punk and crossover laden Death Metal is not normally the style that jumps to the front of the brain when thinking about Greece. Traditionally (to me, at least) Brutal Death and Black Metal come to the conversation quicker than the style of Death Metal that Athens’s Cursed Blood exhibit on their 2026 demo ‘Never in Peace, Never Rest’.
Clocking in at just under 5 minutes of new original music (plus one Anticimex cover), Cursed Blood weave their way through the crusty D beat infested waters of Punk, Thrash and Death Metal with expert precision. There is no shortage of riffs here, all of which demand some form of physical response, be it fist pumping, head banging or dare I say beer drinking. The crusty punk presence is prevalent here, with many D beat dominated passages throughout the listen. There is no shortage of blasting tremolo riffs to keep the Death Metal fans happy and many bridges with catchy hooks to tie it all together. Despite its simplicity, this release is done extremely well and has a tremendous flow from start to finish.
Featuring current and ex members of many notable Greek bands (including Burial Hordes, Dead Congregation, Vulnus, Early Death, etc), Cursed Blood flex their veteran muscle across this short but incredibly well written demonstration. Fans of many different sub genres will undoubtedly find something to enjoy here. FFO: Necrot, Black Breath, Wolfbrigade
