Ghost Bat Helps Cursed Record Album, Heals Guitarist

03/12/08 9:30am

by Evan Dickson (CHARTattack)

Her name is Theresa and she is the brains behind the Canadian hardcore band Cursed. She lives in a plastic bag in a bar fridge at Hallamusic where the band recorded their appropriately-titled third album, III. According to lead singer Chris Colohan, the bat corpse featured in a video on the band's website "helped us when we needed advice about what to do. She helped us do some mixing; sort of like our spiritual guide." Producer Donny Cooper and the band, which includes guitarist Christian McMaster, bassist "Dangerous" Dan Dunham and drummer Mike "The Mauler" Maxymuik on drums, probably put some work into the new record as well.

Okay, so the real story here isn't a refrigerated carcass; it's the first full-length record from Cursed since 2005. Colohan, who is the lyricist and the singer, uses his music to vent his darker emotions and address frustrations. On III, these include religious hypocrisy, aging rock stars, government manipulation of people's fear, and every Torontonian's favourite subject: condominiums.

"I just hate condo culture," says Colohan. "And definitely what it's doing in this city. Like the city doesn't have room for itself."

Cursed finished recording III in the summer and the mixing process provided an opportunity for McMaster to have his badly damaged hands repaired. The guitarist's lifestyle of thrash guitar and manual labour jobs contributed to severe carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands. Amazingly, he endured constant pain to record the album and had to have two surgeries after its completion.

With McMaster's recovery, Cursed are finally able to tour again and will play venues in Ontario until the end of April, when they will travel to Europe. Regrettably, Theresa will not be able to make the trip due to the disgusting complications involved in taking a decaying bat overseas.

Colohan had this plea for the nation: "If anybody out there knows how to laminate a dead bat..."

Upcoming Cursed tour dates:

March 14 Sarnia, ON @ RCN Hall
March 15 Niagara Falls, ON @ 4555 Queen St. (all-ages)
March 16 Etobicoke, ON @ Brickyard BBQ (all-ages)
March 22 Toronto, ON @ Lee's Palace
March 23 Burlington, ON @Pomona House
March 28 Hamilton, ON @ Casbah
March 30 Toronto, ON @ Sonic Boom (in-store, free w/food donation)
April 4 Ottawa, ON @End Hits Records
April 4 Ottawa, ON @End Hits Records (late show)
April 5 Montreal, QC @ The Black Dot
April 5 Montreal, QC @ The Black Dot (late show)
April 6 Peterborough, ON @ Underdog
April 11 Windsor, ON @ Coach & Horses
April 12 London, ON @ Wippet Lounge
April 13 Kitchener, ON @ Cory's House