What we have here is a 3-way split album that is essentially a mix between slow depressive black metal filled with personal issues and fast extreme black metal filled with hateful energy. While some listeners may say this is an odd mix of bands for a split, others may say it wouldn't matter as what is presented on here as a whole delivers such variety that can be seen as joining forces with artists whom separately holds a unique mindset with a personal touch of both talent and spirit that can place possible listeners in the artists' own minds of cold creativity, especially considering the different sub genres of black metal hold specific settings and themes. As such, this release simply titled "2014 Split" can possibly serve as not just a reminder that not all black metal bands are the same but also a reminder that there's solid atmospheric energy to be found both within and outside the underground metal scene, and this album is something that can definitely hit the listeners with that very same energy.

This split album begins with the Welsh artist known as Anesmwythder, whom delivers the depressive side of the black metal genre. We open with clean guitar plucking that keeps a steady tempo for a good 30 seconds until it activates it's distortion effect as the drum work performs a steady mid-paced tempo with it's use of the ride cymbals, crash cymbals, double bass kicks and snare beats. The production keeps a clean quality on the drums that doesn't bury it underneath the distorted guitar riffing. The composition of the instruments keep a melodic structure with minor notes that changes it's pace at times, ranging from a slow tempo with the use of clean guitar picking to a raw fast tremolo riffing. This is very DSBM in nature and some listeners may easily compare it to other DSBM acts such as Thy Light and Sadness. The vocals give a performance of raw croaks that very much remains the same throughout the first track of this artist's side of the split, with no sudden bursts of loud cries or harsh ear-piercing shrieks. The lyrics themselves are written with very deep and personal messages as they speak of the artist struggling with their own identity. While they are not fully straightforward of how the artist could possibly feel this way to begin with, they give poetic speeches and wishes about having themselves scalped away and be granted something more pleasing to their cold dead eyes for they feel sick of being trapped as they describe it. While the entire experience of this first track is something that is very easily relatable for people whom may be struggling with such similar issues, the artist brings us the second track that serves as their final piece for their side of this split album that's somewhat shorter in length. Just like the first track, this second track opens with clean guitar picking. Rather than letting out the raw croak-styled vocals quickly, the artist instead opens with slow clean chanting that has a very female-like tone to it. This lasts for at least over a minute until the instruments pick up their pace with the guitar going off into slow raw tremolo riffs as the drum work keeps a slow tempo that maintains it's use of it's supporting cymbals, beats and kicks. The entire performance delivers a series of solos and tremolo pickings that keep the cold atmosphere in place with the occasional mix of clean and raw quality coming into play for some moments.

But now that Anesmwythder's side is over with, the depressive theme is not quite over yet as we continue the split with the next band Coedwig Machen whom delivers a series of clean guitar pickings that are layered over another set of clean guitar pickings. While the tempo for the clean guitars maintain a slow performance, this eventually changes as the guitar work breaks out into raw tremolo riffs that delivers a faster paced performance than what the split album opened with alongside the drum work themselves. The vocals deliver a performance that's even more harsh than before as it gives a loud frequency of shrieks that can be comparable to Silencer in a couple parts. While the style is typical in the nature of black metal, it keeps the cold atmosphere maintained as it takes it's own good moments to pause for the instruments to perform their series of slow and fast paced riffs with scales that gives a solid DSBM composition. Now although this split album begins by delivering two separate artists with depressive elements, we eventually reach the extreme and anger side with the third and last featured artist Nyctophilia. Rather than sharing a unique depressive tone, this last artist instantly delivers a series of fast riffing/soloing and drum blasts that have a more hateful energy than the previous two artists with a hint of rock and roll influence that can be identified in the track "Frozen from Within". As such, this may throw listeners off and they may even go as far as to say this is out of place. However, this is not exactly a bad thing as this artist remains capable of creating a hateful atmosphere with their delivery of raw distorted screeches, raw guitar riffs that also slows it's pace down for a good few moments along with the drum work that follows the very same formula.

This 2014 Split by these three artists is something that can be seen as a recruitment, and the featured artists can be seen as soldiers joining together to release their unique creativity of mindsets whether it be personal issues or simple downright misanthropy. However fans may see it, this album is a piece of variety they surely may not want to miss. ... See More

When it comes to raw black metal artists with extremely lo-fi quality, the reactions from listeners can possibly be mixed. Some may praise the production as it's seen as the whole point of raw black metal while some others may condemn it altogether to the point it may be virtually unlistenable. While the black metal scene has it's share of different sub-genres and overall quality throughout the years, we still certainly have plenty of artists whom attempt to preserve the raw side of the genre including obscure underground ones. And what we have here is one of those old obscure artists with their sole demo release "...a piorunem przegnam świt..." with a rather unique take on the raw genre.

Assumed to be released in 1996, this 5-track demo by Poland's very own Weldar delivers an extremely crusty production that maintains a fantasy-like setting for the entire experience. While the song titles are in Polish, the exact translations can be heavily supportive as the instrumentation work for each of these tracks places the listeners in a series of ancient battles and other fantasy-like settings. As the demo opens with the introduction track that translates to "The scream of the last battle", we are quickly delivered a short series of mid-paced string instruments that have a somewhat whimsical tone as it is accompanied by the sound effect of a laughing old hag. This lasts for a good 15 seconds before we are given a choir section and raw booming drum beats that can easily remind the listeners of old fantasy stories and movies such as Excalibur and Conan The Barbarian. The use of the string instruments maintain a whimsical conduct that play alongside the choir performance as a use of trumpets and other horn instruments are also brought into the setting. This lasts for a good moment until the middle range of the track's length introduces sound effects of battle taking place such as swords clashing, men grunting in pain, horses whining and marching, and thrown weapons piercing the flesh of fighters. This lasts for the remainder of the entire track until it all eventually fades out. The production quality also gives a very strong static effect and as such, it's very hard to tell if the artist simply took the entire track's composition and sound effects from a movie or it's something completely original.

As we enter the second track that translates to "Blood Revenge", we are immediately greeted by a guitar feedback effect for a short 3 seconds before it quickly performs a somewhat fast-paced tremolo riffs. If the listener's ears can pass the production's strong raw static effect, they can easily identify the guitar work with it's distorted effect has a strong melodic tone that's somewhat standard for raw black metal bands that play pagan or other fantasy-related music. The drum work is also heavily buried in the raw mix so it's almost hard to hear it at times, although the listener would at least be able to make out the drum's use of cymbal crashes that switches it's tempo from medium to fast pace at times while the snare beat maintains a fast pace. The vocal style itself delivers a combination of harsh croaks that somewhat resembles early Mayhem and Darkthrone along with slow gloomy singing with an echo effect that's somewhat reminiscent of a choir. Now of course, there are moments when the guitar work doesn't always stick to it's fast paced tremolo as it eventually switches it's tempo to a mid-paced riff that maintains melodic scales. Upon reaching near the end of the track, we get caught off-guard when the track suddenly vibrates a very weird glitch as the audio gives a strong electrical-like explosive effect that only last for almost 3 seconds before the audio returns to the normal raw performance. This is not the only time it happens as the very same thing happens as the outro for the fifth track. So as such, It's literally impossible to tell if these two moments were truly a glitch during the recording or if it was something intentional. Although they're thankfully not exactly ear-piercing, they are still enough to cause a downside for this demo due to their sudden appearance from out of nowhere. As we enter the third track, we are quickly given another series of mid-paced guitar riffings and cymbal beatings that has a more doom metal vibe than the earlier track although the guitar does speed up it's tempo for a couple moments like before while the vocal style performances maintains the very same combination mix as before. Now the last two tracks are very much the same deal as they deliver a combination of fast and mid paced instrumentation performance. Although there are no use of keyboards to be heard, the overall instrumentation work mixed with the raw lo-fi production was actually enough to deliver an atmosphere that places my mind in the demo's very own fantasy setting.

This sole demo "...a piorunem przegnam świt..." by Weldar is an extreme 17-minute journey with it's crusty production, melodic guitar scales, muddy drum beats and cold vocals that can place possible listeners in the dark adventures and bloody battles this demo was aiming for. As such, this release is something that fans of raw lo-fi black metal may not want to possibly miss. ... See More

UK's very own Anaal Nathrakh is one of those bands that puts on a unique set of structures and formulas in terms of instrumentation composition that maintains the extreme side they are known for. While it can be easy to compare their sound to other bands, other people can mostly likely seem them as holding a rather distinct sound whether it be solos, melodies, harmonics, etc... And so this single is a piece that is definitely comparable to other bands that may have possibly served as inspirations while maintaining it's own set of original construction.

"More of Fire than Blood" is a 1-track single released in 2009 that presents steady riffs and tempos that maintains the extreme element the band is known for. As this single begins, we are immediately introduced to the presence of guitar sweeping that keeps a steady tempo as the drum work delivers a hard but brief blast with it's use of crash cymbals while a second guitar is layered over the drums that follows the beat's tempo formula as the bass keeps a low but booming effect that can be identified if a listener listens with either headphones or a good set of speakers. This lasts for at least a few seconds until the drum work and the additional guitar picks up their pace as the vocals delivers a harsh howling shriek. The instrumentation work for this section gets right to the point with it's extreme use of scales as the additional guitar delivers a fast solo performance that only lasts for about 8 seconds. The overall production keeps a solid but compressed heavy quality that can easily place listeners in a state of anger as the vocalist Dave Hunt delivers his shrieks along with deep gurgling growls that is very much in nature with brutal death metal. During this entire section, the entire work of the instruments maintains the same style of riffs that some may see as simple until we reach about the 48-second mark when the single delivers it's chorus section. The guitar work delivers a unique set of minor melodies as the drum work gives a somewhat slower pace with it's use of snare beats while the ride cymbal keeps it's own fast paced setting. The vocals deliver the clean vocals that can be either reminiscent of war cries for some listeners or an opera for some others. However, the performance of the clean vocals is very short-lived as this chorus section last for only about 15 seconds before the entire instrumentation work returns to the simple riffs we have already heard in the first verse. Now while this part of chorus only lasts for a very short time, the single at least has the decency to extend it's chorus during the second section after it delivers a second verse with the same simple riffs and blast beats. After the use of clean vocals do their duty, the second chorus maintains a unique set of guitar riffs and the vocals suddenly change up it's style that goes from an opera-like war cry to a distant-like preaching with an added echo effect that lasts for about 17 seconds.

As the chorus delivers an extended formula within it's second section, the interlude gives an instrumental performance with the same instrumentation style as the earlier verse sections that seems to give itself a short length with a mysterious screeching effect that resembles harsh vocals that appears just before the instruments come to a quick pause. At this point, the main guitar work takes a sole lead tremolo of introducing the third and final chorus section for a quick short moment. The instruments all come together again after Dave Hunt delivers the same clean singing for only a moment alongside the guitar performance. At this point, the third chorus delivers a completely different use of the vocals as the harsh distant-like shrieks are layered underneath the clean singing that repeats the same lines until the single ends with a second but short guitar solo performance. The entire composition of this single can be easily comparable to bands like Cattle Decapitation, Napalm Death, and perhaps a bit of Carcass as it delivers extreme sets of tremolo riffs and short-lived solos with no hints of raw elements.

While "More of Fire than Blood" can be seen as a 1-track single that contains a very simple and tiresome composition due to delivering a repeated performance, there can still be much to hold within this single as it maintains the extreme elements Anaal Nathrakh is known for. It can easily place possible listeners in a mindset of wanting to let all their anger out, almost as if they are holding a deadly fire within their hearts just like the very title of this single. ... See More

Mexico's very own Drown In Solitude is a nearly obscure entity with a certain reputation that has been jokingly classified by listeners as "Elephant Black Metal" for vocal reasons. But what this artist provides here is a measure of inhuman depressing aura that is greatly misunderstood, although it does have it's own share of personal issues that the artist very likely did not intend.

To start things off with this 5-track demo known as "Cold Sense of Suffering", we must take a deep look into the vocal range this artist is known for. As already mentioned, this artist has a reputation for creating a certain vocal range that apparently resembles a pack of elephants. But here's the thing in defense of Drown In Solitude: If a DSBM artist has the ability of creating such noise that is not human in nature, this means they are doing something right. One best way to defend his vocal range is by comparing him to other fellow DSBM artist Trist, as both Trist and Drown In Solitude share a strikingly similar vocal range that can especially be easily identified if a listener compares this guy to Trist's song "Poslední cesta". The vocals of Alexandre Ghashlord provide loud harsh cries that gives an image of the artist in actual agony. The entire structure of the vocals usually leave a slow gloomy effect while maintaining it's painful bellowing cries that greatly sounds like the artist may have either been self-harming or performing mysterious acts we most likely will never know. This is very much the style for the entire demo as there are no change in the vocal range. No hints of clean singing. No soft chanting. Just pure harsh bellowing cries that can actually be ear-piercing in some parts. So admittedly, this can be really tiresome for possible listeners. If Alexandre Ghashlord gave the cries a break by providing additional clean chants similar to other bands like Drowning The Light, perhaps there's a small chance this artist wouldn't be classified as "Elephant Black Metal" every so often.

Now with the vocals out of the way, it's time for the instrumentation work. While the production has a fair quality, the actual composition for the tracks give their own share of decent structures and formulas by DSBM standards. The demo begins with a dark ambient introduction supported by a heavy overdriven sound effect along with the use of keyboards that essentially provide the same slow minor notes for it's 2 minute & 30 seconds length. This opening track would have been good as it is, but it's also accompanied by the harsh vocals. Admittedly, the use of vocals for this track feels completely out of place considering it's a dark ambient track. As such, it most likely would have been better off as a completely instrumental track with the vocals staying out of the way in order to provide an atmosphere that prepares the listeners for the actual melancholic experience. As the demo truly begins with it's black metal part, we are immediately greeted by the guitar that provides a fast paced riff while the drum work maintains a steady paced tempo that is easily identified as programmed. There are a few good moment where the guitar changes it's scales and chords into a somewhat slower but unique pace, providing various melodies that keeps itself separated from the earlier riffs that almost make it an entirely different song while the drum work slows it's own tempo with it's use of double bass kicks, snare beats and cymbals. In fact, this is essentially the formula for the entire demo as it delivers either fast-paced performance which transitions into slower-paced performance or vice versa. Now of course the demo does give it's share use of the keyboard work as the artist brings the instrument back into the third track, performing melancholic harmonics alongside the slow-paced drum and raw distorted guitar works although the keyboard tends to take a break at times as the tempos of the guitar and drum increases again that lasts for a long while. Outside of the raw distorted guitar, programmed drumming and gentle keyboard usage, we are also given clean guitar plucking and strumming for the last two tracks that appear in the ending sections of these two separate tracks. By DSBM standards, the overall instrumentation work can be seen as decent enough for what they are, but they provide an atmosphere that can potentially place possible listeners in a state of abandonment and isolation.

"Cold Sense of Suffering" is a 2008 demo that is greatly misunderstood purely for the "elephant" vocals and seemingly simple instrumentation work. However, if one has experienced enough DSBM content that provides them with the very image of harsh sadness, they may possibly see this demo is something more than just a laughing stock. Even though this release may be very hard to listen to, it's certainly not for everyone as it paints a certain picture of howling despair. ... See More

Upon seeing the news from Leviathan's very own Wrest that he would be releasing this split album with Crawl on cassette, I had no idea who Crawl was. But upon giving this split a listen, it gave me two completely different atmospheric sides as these two artists perform with a different composed set of negativity. Of course this is something Leviathan has always been known for, but Crawl delivers their own unique tone that maintains the overall dark theme of this album. As such, this album can easily place the listeners in such a creeping mindset that it makes them paint a picture of other worlds.

This self-titled cassette release contains only two tracks, each with a balanced length of 12 minutes. It opens with Crawl delivering an automation effect, fading in slow drum kicks, snare beats and cymbal crashes accompanied by raw guitar riffs that gives a very dooming tone accompanied as the vocals immediately deliver ghostly-like wails. This entire slow section lasts for a good 5 minutes and 40 seconds that sounds like something the listener may hear during a dark ritual in an underground complex, an abandoned structure or even in an empty forest. It has a very repetitive yet straightforward structure that gives such an uneasy mood that makes this track not easy to just listen to at any time, as it's one of those pieces of art that's saved for special occasions such as the listener wanting to be left alone. But after 5 minutes have passed of enduring such creeping length, the guitar and vocals come to a pause as we are introduced to a keyboard that plays a choir-like effect as the drum work maintains it's slow steady beats. This lasts for a good moment until the track suddenly gives itself a higher tempo, as the guitar and vocals return. The instruments at this point perform at a faster rate that gives a chaotic nature while the keyboard maintains it's dark use of minor notes to keep the horror theme at large. This last for quite some time before everything comes to a pause, with a slow and low spooky keyboard effect accompanied by electric guitar feedback that fades in and out. This lasts for a while until it summons an acoustic guitar, slowly and longingly plucking depressing-like notes that closes the track.

While Crawl's side plays it's own doom atmosphere that is greatly reminiscent of dark ritual performances, Leviathan's part shares it's own side of a unique atmosphere that is more somber. It opens with a slow overdrive guitar reverb that completely erases the mindset of whatever the listener experienced from earlier. This section is also accompanied by a strange low wind-like effect that possibly makes the listeners imagine themselves being stranded in the middle of an empty snowstorm until the fast guitar riffs come into play alongside the steady tempo drums that keeps up with the guitar work while Wrest delivers the traditional screeches he is already known for. The guitar work plays a series of melancholic notes that has a very strong vibe as bands like Drowning The Light and Satanic Warmaster. The entire formula for the instrumentation work keeps itself an original atmosphere away from Crawl's side, as it's quality is enough to send chills upon the listeners. This all eventually comes to a pause as the low keyboard effect returns with slow clean guitar plucking while also accompanied by strange scratchy-like vocals that sounds like Wrest was in total agony during the making of this track. Of course, this doesn't last for the rest of the track as all the instruments return with a similar fast tempo like earlier that maintains it's series of melancholic minor notes until eventually ending the track with a weird scratching-like effect accompanied by a mysterious scream.

This split album between Crawl and Leviathan is a piece of art that is not for everyone, as it can be saved for certain people with certain grim mindsets. This cassette release only contains one track from the two artists separately and so may lead some listeners to wanting to experience more of these two together. Despite so, the two presented pieces still hold enough visuals to keep plenty of fans in a status of dark personal pleasure. ... See More