Paleface Swiss has been taking the metal scene by storm. Hailing from Switzerland, the metal outfit released their third full length album, Cursed back in January. Just a few months later, they are back with a deluxe edition, Cursed: The Complete Edition. In addition to this announcement, Paleface Swiss have released an unplugged version of their song “River of Sorrows”. You can watch the video here!
The new unplugged version features Ron Deris on guitar. Deris was a prime factor in creating Cursed, as he produced the album for Paleface. Deris and the band were isolated on the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa. There, with the help of Florent Salfati of Landmvrks, Paleface Swiss produced their most vulnerable and intense piece of work yet. Each song on the album has a flower that represents it, something you wouldn’t normally consider for a heavy metal band. However, Paleface continues to break down barriers and expectations in the best way possible. You can see in the new album cover the floral inspiration.
If you thought River of Sorrows was a haunting track before, just take another listen now with the unplugged version. You can hear the raw emotion in Zelli’s voice as he is calling out for help in the song. The two acoustic guitars in the background, and the backing vocals gave me chills. This was a great song before, the acoustic version just brings it up a notch even further.
On Cursed: The Complete Edition, there will be one new song, “I Am a Cursed One”. On top of this, Paleface will combine their three previous singles from 2024, “Best Before: Death”, “Please End Me”, and “The Gallow” onto the new record. Finally, the deluxe edition will end with the haunting new version of “River of Sorrows”. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love all of the singles from 2024, however, they don’t seem to fit the vibe of the new album. While they do stand strong on their own, perhaps I will be proven wrong when the deluxe edition of Cursed releases on June 4th, exactly five months after its first release.
