Year End Extravaganza: Split Albums of 2012

Split albums seem to be regaining popularity in the extreme underground lately. They provide a great opportunity to hear a new artist while also obtaining new tunes from an artist you already love. If you're adventurous like me, oftentimes a split album is an easy way to discover multiple new bands all at once. As with my last list of concerts, I feel there were many stellar split albums released this year that deserve a mention on this blog in one way or another, but I'm not really inclined to prioritize. I will also apologize for not providing full details on each split here, but each of these was worth mentioning in its own way and I think I can let the music speak for itself wherever possible. Also, yes I have twelve releases on this list rather than a rounded number. I could have listed an even greater amount, but I'm trying to show something resembling self-restraint here.

A Pregnant Light/SADOS- "The SkyConspired Against Thee Before Thy Bones Had Dried" (Colloquial Sound Recordings)

This split was the second release from the ferocious A Pregnant Light, and so far the only utterance from the jagged and intriguing black monument of SADOS. Each group provided one lengthy song for this split, and it's a monumental experience. The dichotomy between these two artists shows the perfect nature of a split release.

Adversarial/Antediluvian- "Initiated in Impiety as Mysteries" (Nuclear War Now! Productions)

If you've followed this blog for any amount of time, you know some of my favorite keywords are filthy, hideous, and fuzzy. This swampy death metal release lives in the middle of some unknown territory directly between all of those terms. It's ugly and wonderful in every way I'd want. Adversarial and Antediluvian each contribute three menacing tracks, so grab this split while it's still available.

Batillus/Whitehorse (Vendetta)

As a fan of both extreme music and extreme beards, I've long held a soft spot in my heart for Australian death/doom maniacs Whitehorse. This split was my introduction to Batillus, and I'm quite grateful for it, as their contribution here is equally crushing and fantastic. My only regret is that they didn't accompany Whitehorse on their tour dates down here in Florida. Next time, Batillus, next time.

Cara Neir/Ramlord (Broken Limbs Recording)

This split caught me slightly off guard, I'll admit. I grabbed it on a whim, having heard just a bit of Cara Neir's music before, but I was quite pleased. In fact, I wrote a review of this album a few months ago that will do it better justice than this abridged snippet could. Check it out.

Barghest/False (Gilead Media)

This monster of an album would be a likely contender for album of the year if I were making such a list, split or not. To put it simply, Barghest's violent and scathing assault is the perfect complement to False's ethereal yet driving black metal. There isn't a bad moment on this album, and I'm always eager to flip it back over and play the other side when it's finished. If you don't already own this in some format, get on it.

Fossils/Winters in Osaka- "Celestial Hieroglyphs" (Cardinal Records)

This fantastic noise collage came into my periphery somewhat by accident. In a series of clicking "related videos" on youtube, I came across the sampler for this split and was sold. It's beautiful and scratchy. It's definitely on the safer end of the noise spectrum for those not yet comfortable with the harsh noise wall business. There's a good bit of sonic experimentation and trickery occurring here, which is perfect for me.

Grave Upheaval/Manticore (Nuclear War Now! Productions)
Another split from Nuclear War Now! that embodies my love of ugly, murky metal. Grave Upheaval are a mysterious group with members of the legendary Portal. The music is exactly what you'd expect for anything associated with Portal, but on the more primitive side of things. Less technicality, more horror. Manticore play more of a blackened death assault, with vocals that verge on the decipherable and a slightly less dense sound, but make up for it with unrivaled aggression.

Hell/Thou- "Resurrection Bay" (Pesanta Urfolk/Gilead Media)
Neither of these bands should be too foreign to most folks who are keeping an eye on the metal underground as a whole. Hell provides an ominous descent into despair and misery with their unique brand of churning sludge. Thou follow up with a ritualistic and jagged dirge of their own. The whole affair is tortured and violent, as you'd expect from either group. It's a stellar introduction to either of these bands for those not yet initiated.

Horseback/Njiqahdda/Venowl/Cara Neir (Handmade Birds)
This massive split is another album that just blew me away this year. I've subjected other folks to it on the road, I've forced my friends to sit and listen to it in my room, and I've written a review of it that says everything I could say here and more. Give it a read.

Sadness Saturn/Golden Raven (Handmade Birds)
This fantastic cassette holds the distinction of being the very first album I reviewed here on Black Metal and Brews. It's still an exciting and challenging listen for me, and it's interesting to read back my old review and see how differently I was writing just a few months ago. It's only fitting that this winds up on my list for the year's end.

Trist/Nuit Noire (Fallen Empire)
This 7" was one of those albums that took me by surprise. I'd heard the name of each group countless times but never really bothered to listen. As you can tell by the review I wrote last month, I regret not having heard these groups earlier.

Yellow Eyes/Monument (Sol Y Nieve)

As with a handful of these wonderful albums, this one already received high praise on my blog a couple months back. This also received high praise for its packaging from my friend Jon, who runs The Inarguable. The tape is as beautiful as the packaging it's been given. 

Music Review: Horseback/Njiqahdda/Venowl/Cara Neir split Cassette

Well, this review is quite the undertaking. Handmade Birds has produced another monstrous split cassette from four of the most daring and unique bands in extreme music today. Each of these groups has a distinctive sound, even apart from the other groups sharing this cassette, which makes this split a unique and cherished addition to any collection. Since there's a lot to review here, I'm jumping from the intro right into the details. Here we go.

Side A of this cassette features one track each from Horseback and Njiqahdda. Horseback open things up with the off-kilter track "Heathen Earth," possibly a nod to the Throbbing Gristle album of the same name. As any Horseback listener knows, they tend to keep their music unpredictable and this is no exception. The opening of this tune is as funky as anything I could imagine them doing, yet builds up in a very ceremonial fashion, as if the band has prepared to summon the very song itself. I envision walking up to a fire-lit ritual where Horseback is waiting to guide the listener into the deeper recesses the rest of the tape will explore. Layers of droning guitar and elevating feedback build over the steady pulse of drums and bass playing in unison as the song makes its way into more familiar Horseback territory, complete with intense black metal inspired vocals and the foggy atmospherics they've built their reputation upon. Even at its thickest and most intense, this song maintains a shimmering, trance-like beauty which will likely appeal to folks who aren't as well versed in music of this nature. The incredibly prolific Njiqahdda follow with the monumental "Towers Constructed to Break the Sky," which is also featured upon their recently released Towers and Tides EP. The production here is noticeably cleaner and this music is more technically slanted, yet the band manages to maintain an atmosphere of beauty and passion despite it. The drums are incredibly well played and produced, which I'm always delighted to hear. When the clean introduction caves in to the distorted guitars and faster drumming about a minute in, it feels so seamless. The bellowed vocals have the mud-covered inflection of groups far sludgier, bringing to mind Neurosis more than most progressive-leaning extreme metal groups, which is a nice touch. The song's title and musical textures work quite nicely to evoke imagery of man's constant ambition towards self-deification, which is a pleasant excursion for my mind to embark upon. The peaks and valleys of Njiqahdda's track are easy to follow and despite its great length, it's no great effort to listen and be captivated through its entirety.

The B side of this tape contains a new track from Venowl and three songs from Cara Neir, whose aggression has already graced this blog.  Venowl's contribution, simply titled "III," provides a stark contrast to the melodic tones of the prior two groups, delving into the fuzz and filth that I so often speak about throughout this blog. The pace is slow, the guitars and drums tend to attack at the same moment, making each pulse of the song painfully delightful. This feels like it was recorded in a poorly lit basement in the true fashion of classic black metal, but with a different take on the sounds of the genre. The vocals are shrill and tormented, the production is murky yet does nothing to mar the intensity here, and the band's dissonant attack on the listener provides little to soothe or relieve the tension they create. The entire song makes me feel like I'm being dragged headfirst down a stairwell into a dungeon while hearing the screams of other prisoners. I'd love to know what the lyrics are, as I have a feeling these guys have some pretty dark inspirations behind their hideous assault. Closing this split are three intense cuts from Cara Neir, starting with the pitch black fury of "Minus His Confidence." While the band certainly haven't given up their outside influences, this song is as close to pure black metal as anything I've heard from them and it absolutely shreds. Despite the absurd pace of the song, these guys still manage to fit in a break for a wild guitar solo and a few other little touches of brilliance. For a pair of young musicians, these guys are quickly carving out a niche for themselves, and hopefully other equally talented groups will begin to follow suit. The meaty punk-inspired blackness of "No Right Path" feels like another full-on assault, although it's a fraction of the length of closing masterpiece, "Seize and Exist." This seven minute tune returns to more of Cara Neir's trademark territory, opening with chaos all across the board that hones itself into a pummeling blackened attack, marching forcefully onward just long enough to surprise the listener when the song breaks down into a spacey dirge a couple of minutes in. For a band drawing from such a broad range of influences, these guys continue to impress me with their ability to meld it all together without sounding forced or pretentious.

This entire cassette impressed the hell out of me, to be honest. I figured I'd be able to pick a standout track or particular artist whose music touched me in a particular way, but each group's contribution is so unique and enjoyable that I'm just going to recommend you get a copy and that you do it quickly. Only 250 of these gems were made and I see the price escalating quickly via discogs and ebay once these sell out. Get it for only 9 bucks from Handmade Birds. It's already sold out over at EEE Recordings, but you should check out that store if you're interested in more Njiqahdda related releases, they've got a ton of great stuff.