Released back in August of 2020 we have Chapter 2: Bloom by West Virginian post-hardcore act CURSES. A band with a chaotic and heavy sound which is fronted by three vocal duties preformed by Brandon Casto, Eli Fry and Michael Olivares (who also plays bass for the band). If your into a very modern sounding metal act then this is the album for you. Chapter 2: Bloom opens up with "Almost Heaven" which from the start sounds very cinematic but slightly moody too. Soft sounding guitar then comes in with vocals. Then the drums come in and brings the heavy with them. The song nicely from the start progresses into a heavy tune. The vocals show lots of range to them too.

Next up is "The Door on the Wall". This song shows a lot of emotion with its execution within all the chaos of the riffing. You can sort of hear that djent style of playing with the musicianship. Another good track here is "Toska" and hear from the start you can hear the bass really coming through. A nice clean guitar melody is present which then turns into a heavy riffing attack. When the heavy music comes in it has a really good groove to it as well and the song also has a big sounding chorus section too. In "Breathe" the band just jumps right into it and pulls no punches. There is a very sing-a-long chorus section with some melody to it as well. Chaotic surrounds this song though with that hardcore style mixed which is slightly mixed with that djent style.

"Ascent" is a song that, like at a gig, acts as an intermission. When the band comes back they area getting ready to go out with a bang with the track "Follow the Fire". The band just jumps right in with a big sound. Lots of killer double bass drum work here and lots of cool lead guitar parts as well. This song has a really big sound to it and is a great song. The album closes with the outro track "Welcome Home". The opening to this one is long and slightly moody. When the band comes in they have a slower pace and deliver a quick final attack on the listener before bowing out as this track acts as a swan song to Chapter 2: Bloom.

The vocal work show a lot of range to them. At times certain sections reminded me of a sort of FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND kind of vibe but with that modern djent and hardcore style. CURSES don't really follow typical song structures but rather collections of sections to make up their songs, with this they are mixing it up and keeping the listener on there feet. In these songs you can really feel the bands emotions coming through while they make full use of those extending range guitars.