Some records you just keep going back to. This year marks the 10th anniversary of deep-riffing Connecticut trio Curse the Son‘s second full-length, Psychache (review here, interview here, vinyl review here, also discussed here), and the band are celebrating with a well-earned remaster/limited reissue out Sept. 23 through Salt of the Earth Records. They’ve also got a new lineup around founding guitarist/vocalist Ron Vanacore and plans to record a new album for release next year.

That’s not irrelevant, as Curse the Son look back on Psychache‘s six songs/31 minutes, it’s easy to hear both how they’ve grown in the years since and why they’d look to strip back and re-simplify their sound — the album at 31 minutes and six songs is everything it needs to be. Released first by the band in 2012 as the foll0w-up to the previous year’s Klonopain (review here), it was pressed to CD in 2013 and vinyl in 2014, the latter through STB Records — they were ahead of their time in staggering formats, but also it was very much an organic, word-of-mouth kind of growth — and Psychache continues to resonate to a rare degree these 10 years after the fact with its red-eyed sludge rock, encompassing fuzz and languid rolling grooves. It was everything it needed to be and nothing it didn’t. Most bands never get to put out an album like that. A rare achievement of nigh-on-infinite listenability.

And no, I’m not just saying that because I’m hosting the stream — as you can see in the first paragraph’s many links, I’m not hurting for having covered the album — or because I wrote the intro to the liner notes (shout to Billy from Doomed & Stoned, who did the notes proper) accompanying this reissue. The truth is I do return to Psychache on the regular in my own listening, and at this point it feels like visiting an old friend. Its riffs unfold themselves at the center of each song, and around them dance the hooks of “Goodbye Henry Anslinger,” “Spider Stole the Weed,” the lurching “Somatizer” and the even-slower “The Negative Ion,” that finale a more agonized row that, in hindsight, would preface some of the more doomed fare on subsequent outings, 2016’s Isolator (review here) and 2020’s Excruciation (review here), the latter representing their most complex work to-date.

Psychache — fleshed out via the atmospheric meds-pun interlude “Valium For” and its instrumental title-track, the latter of which closes side A, the former opening side B — is best heard rather than read, so I’m going to spare you the glut of blah-blah-blah in the hope that you’ll instead take the time to hit play below and experience it for yourself. Its intangible strengths are right there in the music. The interplay of would-be burl tone and Vanacore’s pattern-setting vocals was upon initial release a sans-pretense prediction of a decade’s worth of Sabbath worship to come, and looking/listening back on it now, the vanguard feel is like a proven theorem. How many ways are there to say they nailed it? Front-to-back, that’s all they did. And for an outing that’s as cannabinoid — we called it “weed” back then — as Psychache is, if you find a wasted second in its 31 minutes, you’ll have to let me know because I’ve been listening to this record for a fucking decade now and I’ve yet to find one that doesn’t serve either the purpose of the song itself or the album as a whole.

Dig in. Whether you were on board when it first came out or if it’s completely new to you — all the better, really — the best advice I can give is to just follow the nod and enjoy. This is a celebration of an offering that defines cult classic.

Enjoy:

Ron Vanacore on Psychache reissue and new lineup:

“We have been working extremely hard to recapture and revisit the “original” Curse the Son sound after some years of experimentation. Preparing to play ‘Psychache’ in it’s entirety has been invigorating for us all. Dan and Brian are very excited to be a part of this and their enthusiasm has been infectious. We have already begun to write new songs as well, prepare for the HUGE guitars, fuzzy bass and monstrous drums of the old times. We will be playing “Psychache” in it’s entirety live as a treat for everyone (including ourselves)! Plans are to write this Winter and get back into the studio by Spring ’23 to record the next record. Fans old and new rejoice – we are back!”

Preorders: https://saltoftheearthrecords.com/product/815380

Doom metal stalwarts Curse The Son, based in Hamden, Connecticut, announce a new line-up and the tenth anniversary reissue of the album Psychache on Salt of the Earth Records!

Curse the Son has decided to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of Psychache with a special reissue on Salt Of The Earth Records. Fully remastered by long-time Curse the Son engineer and co-producer Steve Wytas, the album sounds reborn.

This one-time limited run of 200 CD’s is packed with behind-the-scenes introspection into the songs, liner notes, photos, memories from the band, in addition to newly remastered audio.

“This is a labor of love,” frontman Ron Vanacore admits. “It has always been my favorite Curse the Son record not only due to the tunes and overall vibe, but also because it’s the record that truly put us on the map.”

Psychache is a reflective effort of the time and still feels as valid today as it did when it originally was released. Produced by Vanacore, the record was originally recorded at Underground Sound in East Haven, Connecticut, with engineer/owner Chris DelVecchio. Sessions began in December 2011 and mixing was completed in August of 2012.

The iconic photograph on the cover of Psychache is mysteriously haunting. Taken in the 1930s, this photo “spoke” to Ron Vanacore and was determined to be the album cover before a single note had been written for the record. “I love the menacing vibe as the
masked kid walks towards you brandishing an unidentifiable weapon,” he says. The album’s central theme being fear, Vanacore felt it was the absolute perfect visual representation for the music.

Curse the Son live:
September 23rd @ The Cellar On Treadwell (Hamden, Ct) CD Release Show w/Joetown and Fractured Reality
September 24th @ Keegan Ales (Kingston, NY) w/Geezer and Shadow Witch
October 7th @ New England Stoner/Doom Festival Prost Music Hall (Jewett City, Ct)
October 29th @ Country Tavern (Guilford, Ct) w/ Alcoholica

More dates TBA

Psychache – 2012 Line-Up:
Ron Vanacore (guitar, vox)
Cheech Weeden (bass)
Michael Petrucci (drums)

Curse the Son – 2022 line-up:
Ron Vanacore (guitar, vox)
Dan Weeden (bass)
Brian Harris (drums)

Curse the Son on Facebook

Curse the Son on Bandcamp

Salt of the Earth Records on Facebook

Salt of the Earth Records website

Tags: Connecticut, Curse the Son, Curse the Son Psychache, Hamden, Psychache, Salt of the Earth Records

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