Curse Upon a Prayer – The Worship: Ortoprax Satanism
Band: Curse Upon a Prayer
Album: The Worship: Ortoprax Satanism
Label: The Cursed Order
Release date: July 26th, 2024
Country: Finland
Format reviewed: High-quality digital recording
This is probably my most highly anticipated album of 2024, and given the amount of great records that have been out and that will be released until the end of the year, this is saying something. At first, I didn’t think that much about it, but that all changed when the second single, “Black Venus Erotica”, and fucking hell, that song hit me like a sledgehammer. I could go on and on blabbering about only this song, but that would be counterproductive in any circumstance. A funny moment, however, that took place during the waiting time, happened when I woke up one morning, and started looking for the album on the internet so I could listen to it, only to find out that the release date was July, not June 26th. At least I remembered the date correctly afterwards. But enough of this, I should get to writing about the actual album before everyone gets bored of reading this gibberish.
As all of you can tell, usually when you are really hyped about an album, your expectations are also going to skyrocket, especially if the singles end up being good. This is exactly what happened to me when I first listened to this album. I remember sitting in my room and analyzing every song closely, inspecting literally every sound I could hear, but all I found was pure perfection. This album is nothing less than flawless from start to finish. It is full of power, passion, rage, and all in between. Everywhere you look, you can hear the mastery of the instrumental. But the vocals are just on a completely other level. You can tell from their previous releases, that frontman Ari Pitkänen is no mere black metal vocalist, his powerful, dramatic style dominating every lyric he sings, but on this album he just outdoes himself and manages to deliver one of the best performances I’ve ever heard, with no exaggeration. He straight up sounds like he’s commanding supernatural forces, and it works so damn well. I could listen to this album on repeat only to enjoy the vocal performance.
In terms of general features, The Worship: Ortoprax Satanism definitely has a lot going on, both in terms of complexity and anything else. The songs vary greatly in length, featuring both short and long tracks, all of which feature complex, rather melodic instrumental, all with a “wall of sound” approach to them. This adds an additional layer of harshness to the music, while also making the vocal performance stand out. The songs feature both conventional and unconventional structures, but they all seem to work in the given musical context. There doesn’t seem to be any weak link in the album, filler content is completely absent, all of which are great indicators o the quality of the album. Now that I’ve established that, let’s get into the songs.
The album opens up with what was actually the first single put out from it, “Ortopraxia”.
The song opens up with a mournful violin melody, which is soon joined by other various layers of faint instrumentation, which create an atmosphere of inescapable darkness, but also intrigue and mystery. Soon, the composition explodes into a fast paced black metal composition, but which also comes to a halt not too long after. The consequence? A doomy, crushing melody that mirrors the one in the beginning, along with a low, almost whisper like vocal passage, that builds on that mysterious mood I was mentioning. Meanwhile, the song is slowly but surely becoming more and more intense, resuming its initial pacing while also allowing the riffs and vocals to become more and more complex, reflecting the uncertainty portrayed within the melody. The song continues to alternate between slow and fast tempos, creating a fascinating musical dynamic, which, by the end of the song, leaves the listener hungry for more.
The mood changes swiftly, however, from mystery to pure power when the second track, “Cunt God”, kicks in all guns blazing. It starts out with a chaotic riff and machine gun style drumming, before exploding into a pure black metal vortex of hate. It is stylistically close to the band’s previous materials, on albums like “Infidel”, while still remaining into the soundscape of the album, never seeming out of place. What I liked about this song is its anthem-like chorus. It is the kind of track that the audience sings along to at live concerts. Only thinking of this makes me want to see Curse Upon a Prayer live. Another aspect that I like about this song is its shameless feeling of rebellion. You can’t help but feel empowered by it, and I feel like not enough band manage to recreate this feeling often.
“Sulfurserpent”, although similar in attitude to its predecessor, brings back the melodies of “Ortopraxia”, along with a faint feeling of melancholy weaved into the music. The varied drumming patterns offer a strong support for the riffs, which put aggression and melody together in a stormy mix of states and emotions. The vocals vary greatly from passage to passage, the diversity of the techniques mirroring the complexity of the instrumental, while also maintain that feeling of imbalance that becomes more and more prevalent as the song progresses. Although not necessarily as memorable as its predecessor, it is much more developed both musically and atmosphere wise, the final result being a contemplative piece that feels a lot like watching the world burn.
“Blood Poetry” changes the pattern of the album so far quite drastically, going from the intensity of “Cunt God” and “Sulfurserpent” to a slow, hypnotic piece that oozes both fear and awe. It is the band’s take on the “slow epic” style of songs such as Belphegor’s “Virtus Asinaria – Prayer”, while improving on this type of song structure. The song is performed in an almost poetic manner, every verse ringing clear in the ritualistic soundscape that you can’t help but get lost into from the first notes. There is also something meditative, almost soothing about this song, that makes it truly fascinating, particularly when contrasted to the trademark aggression of the album as a whole. It is dark in an undoubtedly beautiful way. And the guitar solo is out of this world, particularly when put together with the chorus of the song.
“A Heav’n of Hell”… I don’t even know where to start with this song. If what came before it is great, then this song is pure bliss. From the main riff, which is infused with a dark, powerful melody, to the drumming which feels like wind blowing in your face to the simple fact that this song feels like utter power and freedom. The closest thing that even comes close in mood to this song is reading the descriptions of Hell from Dante’s Inferno. This single song encompasses what it must feel like to be the ruler of the Underworld. In terms of structure, it is definitely a lengthy track, spanning at over nine minutes, and including a multitude of passages and sequences, that offer the music an almost narrative feeling of connection and continuation. The occasional choir embellishments help bring an additional layer of grandiosity to the piece, along with the extravagant vocal performance. The song itself definitely feels extravagant, all while retaining that trademark black metal edge and not getting lost into the numerous details. I would also like to mention how good the lyrics of this song are. The main idea behind them is basically the balance between life and death, darkness and light, and, obviously Heaven and Hell, expressing the fact that they all exist into one another. You can’t have one without the other. I find this to be particularly interesting, and I encourage all listeners to take a look over the lyrics and see for themselves.
“I Enthrone You” comes after, as another shorter song full of energy. It moves away from the meditative feel of its predecessors, replacing it with intensity and rage. This song feels almost like a lightning strike, it comes, blasts everything to pieces, and then disappears as fast as it appeared, and that makes it very fitting in the album’s context, as it revives that rebellious mood after a significant absence. The song overall is very riff driven, and it also features some incredibly fast drumming. The vocals also shift from the more narrative approach of the previous track to being more direct and less nuanced, which helps bring out the raging nature of the song itself.
Going further into the latter half of the album, we have what I can easily call the best song on this record, “Black Venus Erotica”. I mentioned some of its qualities in the beginning of the review, but that little description doesn’t really do justice to the song. It is one of the more conventionally structured songs on the album, which makes it retain the intensity and power of “I Enthrone You”, while also including more melodic elements. This is done in a similar fashion to “A Heav’n of Hell”, but “Black Venus Erotica” is overall much less meditative but definitely more passionate and emotionally charged. This song feels like the band pouring all their passion into one single piece of music. It has everything that makes this album good, and its usage of varied tempos and sections makes it truly feel like an overview of the album as a whole. Everything seems to peak with this song. It is grandious, anthemic, and overall, simply incredible. If you enjoy this song, then you will definitely enjoy the album.
Things calm down a little bit as the ending of the album slowly approaches, “He that Eateth My Flesh” returns to the ritualistic, transcendental approach of “Blood Poetry”, the mood of the song becoming bleaker and bleaker as it progresses. For the first half of the track, the music is composed only of a faint guitar and violin melody, accompanied by whispery layers of vocals, that are nothing short of fear inducing, while also being oddly fascinating. The whispers continue as the drums kick in and more musical layers are introduced, making the song feel almost like the soundtrack of a funeral procession.
“The Worship I: Patior” builds on the atmosphere of its predecessor, providing us with the last long song on the album. What I like the most about this track is its lamenting tone and oddly calming soundscape. It is the kind of song you would listen to on a lonely evening walk as the sun sets. Yet, I wouldn’t call it a sad song by any means. Despite its slow tempo and gloomy atmosphere, you can still hear the power so prevalent on this record. The flame is still alive and burning. I find this blend of moods to be almost poetic in a sense, and that is attributed entirely to the band’s songwriting capabilities and outstanding performance. A significant quirk of the song are the faint guitar embellishments that can be heard behind the vocals, which add a layer of dynamism to the music. Another nice feature is the way the song is sung. There are multiple layers of vocals included in the song, which contrast each other in technique and execusion, making it feel like there is a dialogue taking place between multiple entities. But what truly makes this song hit hard are the choir ambience and the violin melody. They are perfectly included within the composition.
Concluding the album there is yet another fiery track , “The Worship II: Ignis”. Pretty similar in atmosphere to “ A Heav’n of Hell”, it ties together all the contrasting moods of the record, but in a more reflective, rather than explosive way, in comparison to “Black Venus Erotica”. It is a fitting ending for the album in every way, and it leaves the listener with a feeling of completion, similar to the one of finally reaching something you had been searching or working towards a very long time. Yet, it is infused with anger and melancholy, which will unavoidably strike a chord, especially during the guitar solo, which is the best one on the whole album. Damn, is this some powerful music.
I can’t recall there being any time when I was so excited to write about an album as I was writing this review, and I can’t help but be happy this is the case, because it makes me truly notice the difference between a great album and an incredible one. And The Worship is truly an incredible album in every sense of the word. Music like this is the reason why I listen to extreme metal and why I am so passionate about it. In the end, Curse Upon a Prayer have managed to create an album that, in my opinion, has at its core the three main principles of black metal: Freedom, Power and Authenticity. And all we can do is hope for more albums like this in the future, both from this band and every other. 10/10 by Ioanna
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