Today's release is a split album that sees two metal artists, Nirensimt and Scoured, contributing with two tracks each. Having appreciated the brautiful cover art (which gave me some Candlemass vibes) we start the listening with the "Side A", the one with the compositions by Nirensimt.
The first track opens with an intro that seems rooted in classic doom metal (like Trouble, or the aforementioned Candlemass), but from the tone of the guitars we can already deduce that black metal is going to be the predominant style. This is confirmed by the appearance of the vocals, harsh and corrosive, like the screech of a demonic creature ascended from our nightmares. The song accelerates and the guitars launch themselves into a desperate assault to our eardrums, violence and atmosphere leading the charge side by side. We have time to catch our breath with a brief interlude with solemn arpeggios, before the distortion kicks in again for one last skirmish.
The second track sets aside the solemnity of the previous one, making space for a venomous blackened thrash metal that would easily start an intense moshpit if played to the right audience. Tremolo riffs, thundering drums, caustic vocals... what else do you want?
The "Side B", where Scoured's tracks are placed, opens with a fast and aggressive track, death metal with a darker production compared to Nirensimt. The instrumental parts are irreproachable, while the vocals took a while to grow on me, because itt feels like they have been slightly muffled in the mix, but by the end of the song I had already come to terms with it: whether it was a stylistic choice or not, it works.
The last track of this release opens with a slow sludgy riff, that is soon joined by a tremolo line that sounds like Dave Chandler from Saint Vitus would sound after being stranded on a Norwegian fjord during a snowstorm for a week. The track is in general more atmospheric, with a marching vibe characterising most of the middle section. In the final part the death metal component reclaims the throne, culminating in a nevrotic solo (with some Hellripper echoes) that will make also the speed metal fans happy.
If you like extreme metal in all its different faces, in this album you will definitely find something for you. The two artists have condensed in around 20 minutes a handbook on how to channel your inner demons into cool music.