Morbosidad/Witchrist- Split(2011)

Morbosidad/Witchrist- Split

Thought I might as well knock out another split, this time a split from Bestial Black Metal demons Morbosidad and Occult Death Metal monsters Witchrist. Both acts have seen a huge spike in popularity over the last few years. Morbosidad are one of the busiest and most talented purveyors of Bestial Black Metal on Earth, and unlike many of their peers don't merely comp Blasphemy every other song to fill up albums. Witchrist's impressive full length Beheaded Ouroboros has made them one of the hottest up and coming bands in Death Metal. So a split from these two acts seems like a great idea.

And it works on this very uncreatively titled Split. The two Morbosidad tracks, titled "Plagarias Ceremoniales" and "Horda Del Apocalipsis" are both under two minutes and are fairly straight forward Black/Grind tracks, but they are a ton of fun and very much up to par with the blast beat heavy aural assaults Morbosidad are known for. The two Witchrist tracks on the other hand are a bit different from what we heard on Beheaded Ouroboros: the production is still very cavernous and thick with distortion, but more balanced. The songs themselves(titled "I" and "II" in another fit of anti-creativity) are much more straight forward Death Metal romps. Seeing as this is a split with a band as no nonsense as Morbosidad, it makes a lot of sense and the Witchrist tracks are actually pretty bad ass. This more stripped down machine Witchrist are running with this release, but it's still pretty interesting.

All told, this four song split is actually shorter than the split I just reviewed(clocking in at barely 8 minutes, with the Witchrist track "II" taking up most of the run time), yet I found it much more satisfying. These are two of the best bands in their respective genres, and hearing them together on the same release, even a mostly insignificant one, it still a blasphemous delight.

Rating: 7/10

Cruciamentum/Vasaeleth- Eroding Chaos Unto Ascendant Flesh(2011)

Cruciamentum/Vasaeleth- Eroding Chaos Unto Ascendant Flesh

Cruciamentum and Vasaeleth are two of the more solid young acts involved in this Old School Death Metal Revival that is in full swing. Vasaeleth's debut full length Crypt Born & Tethered to Ruin was well received by many, and Cruciamentum have generated a lot of excitement with their Convocation of Crawling Chaos demo. Both acts are heavily influenced by Incantation, but load their albums with plenty of tasty riffs to keep listeners tuned it. I was pretty excited for this split, mostly for new material from Cruciamentum.

Unfortunately, Eroding Chaos Unto Ascendant Flesh features only two songs, one from each band, and neither are world breakers. Vasaeleth's track, "Profane Ceremonial Exudation" is a fairly standard affair: distortion choked, primitive Occult Death Metal with a strong Doom Metal influence. It would have been the weakest track on Crypt Born & Tethered to Ruin, but it's still a solid song. The Cruciamentum track is more interesting, if only because we don't have a full-length from this young group yet. The track, titled "Rites to the Abduction of Essence," it a bit of a departure from Convocation of Crawling Chaos: the track is more cleanly produced, although it remains cavernous and heavy. The riffs are still excellent, and it is clear the guys in Cruciamentum are skilled song writers. The vocals are perhaps the biggest change however: no longer indiscernible guttural growling, the vocals remind be more of Bolt Thrower, a mid-low growl that is much louder in the mix. Overall, it is little more than a taste of what to come, and not enough of one to really get wild about.

I fail to see the purpose of releasing a split featuring only 2 songs, but I suppose there is nothing wrong with the idea. It does make grading something like this difficult. In the end, neither track is awe-inspiring, but neither are bad. A decent little split, and a window into the future of Cruciamentum at the very minimum.

Rating: 5/10