Death metal has developed into such a strange beast since it rose from the swamps and graveyards more than three decades ago. That’s been for the better, and really, the raw and brutal stuff still exists in healthy supply. You can find plenty of it. But the way it has developed new colors and shapes has made the sound more exciting and limitless.

Finnish blackened death metal power Sepulchral Curse have, over the course of more than a decade, committed new strains of morbid oddity to their brand of brutality, and on their new record “Crimson Moon Evocations,” their third, they push that to bizarre new levels. It’s not so warped that it’s not going to torch someone here for carnage and bloodshed. That’s here in abundance. But the band—vocalist Kari Kankaanpää, guitarists Jaakko Riihimäki and Aleksi Luukka, bassist/vocalist Niilas Nissilä, drummer Johannes Rantala—imagines more than just pure death metal, though it’s there in spades, and instead try to inject a chilling ambiance and off kilter approach that keeps things unpredictable.

“Wildfires” opens ablaze, a total assault that challenges you mind and body as you try to hang on for dear life. The playing is thunderous as guitars lather, and even when the fury pulls back, you know you’re about to be consumed on the other side where engorging growls and blinding soloing await. “House of the Black Moon” churns, guitars mauling, feeling like you’re being drilled into the ground. Things go back and forth from catchy to brutal and back, drubbing as twin guitars align and send metallic energy. Howls mash as a slight breeze pushes through, everything ending in a colorful cacophony. “The Locust Scar” is an onslaught, growls carving into flesh, guitars warping visions and creating panic. Skullduggery pulls out of a brief respite, dark and sooty melodies clog throats, and the growls wreck, the back end slowly fading.

“Beneath the Dismal Tides” explodes, growls clawing, a beastly pace roaring and making itself seem 10 times larger than it is. This is total decimation, the thickness spewing oil and sparks, the playing spiraling fast, howls scarring faces. “Empress of the Dead” starts amid a wilting heatwave, and then the pace is unsheathed, jabbing with heated guitars, wails crushing, and darkness enveloping. Shrieks rain down fire, and the final minute completely combusts, sending shrapnel flying. “The Currents of Chaos” stomps with a purpose, the guitars gutting before leaning into more progressive waters, making blood surge. Hypnosis takes over, a creative swath of guitars changing the landscape, the playing packing sorrow even as they cut through muscle. Closer “Crimson Passages” is spacious with growls scraping, drums crushing, and the playing turning into a tornadic force. The pressure refuses to relent, guitars turning up the heat, growls curdling, and a strange tingling sensation taking over and dissolving into the atmosphere.

“Crimson Moon Evocations” is a record that might make you feel like you’re being pulled into a wormhole of strangeness, and that’s not entirely inaccurate, at least from a figurative standpoint. Sepulchral Curse’s blackened fury definitely is rooted in death metal, but it gives as much weirdness as it does brutality, which makes for a really interesting mix. This is another solid building block for a band with an already steady resume that is looking to expand this sound to whatever reaches they see fit.

For more on the band, go here: https://sepulchralcurse.bandcamp.com/album/abhorrent-dimensions

To buy the album, go here: https://www.darkdescentrecords.com/shop/?s=sepulchral+curse&post_type=product

For more on the label, go here: https://www.darkdescentrecords.com/shop/