This Gift Is A Curse embrace the abyss on new single 'Ascension' • GRIMM Gent

Descending from the abyssal depths of the darkest recesses, THIS GIFT IS A CURSE emerges once more to engulf the light on their latest single, Ascension. The track serves as the harrowing finisher to their forthcoming album, HEIR, set to annihilate the earthen plane.

Witness the raw, relentless storm of sound that is Ascension, a track that delves into the arcane spectrums of the human soul. Swathed in the ominous embrace of the Overlook Studio in Gävle, Sweden, and meticulously conjured by producer William Blackmon, Ascension is an invocation, summoning the darkness that dwells within us all. Magnus Lindberg’s mastering at Redmount Studios in Stockholm ensures that every note of this sonic incantation reverberates through your very core.

Drenched in the ethereal haze of occult resonance, Ascension is an esoteric rite of passage. The track unleashes a torrent of blackened riffs, cascading over relentless blast beats that echo the primordial chaos from which all darkness is spawned. As Jonas A. Holmberg‘s vocals tear through the soul with a visceral intensity, the listener is enveloped in a ritualistic trance. Laura Morgan‘s haunting chants weave through the aural onslaught, providing an otherworldly contrast that beckons the spirit to rise amidst the ashes. This is post-apocalyptic liturgy, a sonic crucible where mortals transcend into the realm of shadows, guided by the relentless force that is THIS GIFT IS A CURSE.

Listen to Ascension now on the Season of Mist YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/6avdl0U6vT4

There’s an abyssal depth reaching far below – where light is devoured by shadow, and silence is torn asunder by cacophony. Down below, there thrives a beast most foul and majestic. This beast, known among the living as THIS GIFT IS A CURSE, has clawed its way through the bedrock – leaving a trail of desolation and awe in its wake. As 2025 dawns bleak and uncertain, the beast prepares to unleash its latest apocalypse, ‘HEIR.’

Since its infernal birth, THIS GIFT IS A CURSE has been a harbinger of the end times for the conventional and the mundane. A cataclysmic fusion of black metal ferocity, sludge-laden doom, and a haunting ambience straight from the depths of the nether, has torn apart stages and souls alike. Now, with ‘HEIR,’ they stand poised to cast the world into a new age of darkness.

HEIR is out March 7, 2025 via Season of Mist.

Pre-order & Pre-save the album here: https://orcd.co/thisgiftisacurseheir

Tracklist:
1. Kingdom (5:43) [WATCH]
2. No Sun, nor Moon (8:17)
3. Void Bringer (9:17)
4. Death Maker (4:26)
5. Passing (2:17)
6. Seers of No Light (5:52)
7. Cosmic Voice (6:51)
8. Vow Sayer (6:00)
9. Old Space (8:42)
10. Ascension (9:17) [LISTEN]
Total runtime: 1:06:44

THIS GIFT IS A CURSE were founded in Stockholm by a fateful chance meeting of vocalist Jonas A. Holmberg and drummer Johan Nordlund in late summer 2008. The duo soon recruited guitarist Patrik Andersson and Lars Gunnarsson on bass. In March 2010 the Swedish four-piece entered the legendary Sunlight Studios (ENTOMBED, KATATONIA, TIAMAT, DISMEMBER and many more) and recorded their self-titled debut EP with the aid of producer Tomas Skogsberg. ‘This Gift Is A Curse‘ (2010) was well received in the underground and led to the band being invited to perform many shows in their homeland and Europe. During the second half of 2011, THIS GIFT IS A CURSE recorded their first full-length ‘I, Gvilt Bearer‘ at a secret location north of Stockholm. Their producer Magbjork (MELEEH, CHILDREN OF FALL) moved his studio to this specific location to allow the band to unlimited record possibilities. Released in 2012, the album caused a buzz that reached beyond the underground and quickly sold out its first pressings. More touring followed during the next two years. In 2014, THIS GIFT IS A CURSE teamed up with Magbjork once again to record ‘All Hail The Swinelord‘ in an abandoned house close to Stockholm.

After the release in 2015, a few Scandinavian and European tours followed before the band decided it was time to go back into the void to write new music. This process started with the recruitment of a second guitarist in order to push the sonic experience even further. David Deravian, hailing from steel town Eskilstuna, joined the cursed ranks of THIS GIFT IS A CURSE in 2016, adding fresh creative blood and new musical input to the sonic pot. As the new material took form, the band not only booked studio time with the great W. Blackmon of the Overlook Studios in Gävle (SE), but also kept their roots by recording parts of the album at Norra Begravningsplatsen in Stockholm. Including producer MAGBJORK to the whole process once again to get the right ‘grit and grievance’ into the sound. Afterwards, mastering was done by none other than Magnus Lindberg (CULT OF LUNA, TRIBULATION, ALCEST etc).

THIS GIFT IS A CURSE defies the transient trends of music, instead choosing to carve its path with the bones of the fallen. Their forthcoming album, ‘HEIR,’ is a relentless pursuit of the extreme, a mosaic of human suffering and the dark beauty that lies within. As the album prepares to sear its mark upon the world, one thing is clear: There will be no heirs to the throne of darkness that THIS GIFT IS A CURSE occupies. The crown is theirs alone, forged in the fires of creation and destruction, a beacon for those who dare to walk the shadows.