Metal Archives

A1 Wolfsduister – Intro
A2 Wolfsduister – Kerkhof
A3 Wolfsduister – Angst (Alternative Version)
A4 Wolfsduister – Dodenzang
A5 Entsetzlich – Endless Mourning Darkness
A6 Entsetzlich – Lost In Desolate Ruins
A7 Entsetzlich – Outro

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Split between Grand Belial’s Key and Chemin de Haine is a French, occult black metal band featuring members from bands such as Kristallnacht and S.V.E.S.T.

Tracklist:

Grand Belial’s Key
1. Hobo of Aramaic Tongues 05:52
Chemin de Haine
2. Le Royaume Maudit 06:51
Total playing time 12:43

By 2001, the mighty German Black Metal band Moonblood had already met its end, despite unreleased material continuing to appear for a couple years after the fact. Yet at the same time, another band was poised to take their place in the German underground. Though Katharsis has never reached the same level of quality, they have always done their best to keep the black flame burning. As is often the case with split releases, a lesser-know band is aided by one that is more established, enabling them to get their name out there and to reach an audience that may have otherwise neglected to take notice. In this case, it was almost like a passing of the torch, since Moonblood was winding down. The resulting album is not exactly groundbreaking, but does well to offer up a couple tracks of raw Black Metal were like a fist in the face of the multitude of symphonic / experimental bands that were putting out records around that time.

The Moonblood track, "Supreme Black Forces of Steel", sounds quite similar to the material that they contributed to the split album with Deathspell Omega. This is understandable, as all of the songs were recorded during the same session back in November 1997. It is fast-paced and very straightforward, with little variation in tempo. The tremolo melody possesses an epic quality, as is often the case with this band, and the guitar tone manages to cut through the fuzzy and distorted production. The drums are, mostly, buried enough to not detract from the guitars and the vocals are at a perfect level to be heard quite well without being too high in the mix. While the main riff is very memorable, some of the others lack the clarity to really stand out and affect the overall atmosphere. At any rate, this is a solid offering from a legendary band.

Side B of this 7" E.P. features the Katharsis song "Watchtowers of Darkness Part II". After a slow build, reminiscent of early Slayer, the song bursts forth at top speed. To contrast the production of the previous song, here the guitar is buried under the vocals and drums. Odd that the older song would have the better sound quality. In trying to maintain a grim and underground approach to recording, the band actually undermined their own efforts and ensured that the song was unable to have the full effect that it should have had. Near the middle, the pace slows down a bit, being somewhat reminiscent of old Celtic Frost or some other 80's band. Not long after, things speed up again and Katharsis does their best to imitate Darkthrone, though not nearly as impressive. The track grows on you as it goes along, and is not bad at all. Still, one would think that they had stronger material than this. Despite the fact that the E.P. was limited to 666 copies, they should have considered a better song.

This split does not present anything revolutionary from either band, but it is solid and should appeal to fans of either. While it goes without saying that the Moonblood song is the superior of the two, Katharsis makes a decent enough showing to perhaps warrant further investigation into their discography.

Written for http://ritesoftheblackmoon.tripod.com

Released by Sombre Records in March 1998, the Moonblood / Asakku split offers up a couple decent quality songs of raw German Black Metal. This 7" E.P. was limited to 500 copies, so it is not the easiest to come by. The material on hand is well worth hearing, upholding the traditions of the sub-genre quite well, though it cannot be said that these recordings are earth-shattering, by any means.

The Moonblood track, "Hordes of Hate", was recorded in September 1995. This would have, easily, fit onto the band's first full-length album, Blut und Krieg. In some way, the arrangement is even reminiscent of "I Am All". It starts with an epic intro, before unleashing a blistering assault of frozen tremolo riffs that freeze your flesh and leave you unable to move. The pummeling drums then come along to lay waste to that which is left, as the demonic howls summon the forces of evil to consume your miserable spirit. The guitar melodies are straightforward, yet memorable. The bass lines, more or less, follow along with the main riffs, rarely straying. The production is about the same as what can be heard on most of Moonblood's studio recordings. It is odd that this song was left off of their debut L.P.

Asakku does their best to match the quality of their peers with "Endless Woods", recorded in May 1996. The song starts out with an acoustic guitar, before transitioning to a galloping riff in the vein of Bathory. They utilize a variety of tempos, still managing to maintain a consistent atmosphere throughout. The faster parts employ tremolo riffs that are not all that dissimilar from Moonblood. The production is a bit annoying, as the bass and drums are a little too loud in the mix, with the former possessing sort of a clicking sound that is a little distracting. All in all, Asakku showed promise and would have been a worthy part of the German underground, had they survived.

Quite often, the idea behind split releases is to pair a newer band with one that is more established, to help expose them to a larger fanbase. Such was the case with this 7", yet it seems to have been somewhat of a failure. Asakku was already dead by the time this release came about and this did nothing to revive the band. As for Moonblood, this was nothing more than another opportunity to share one of the countless songs that they were sitting on. It may sound average compared to some of their tracks, but that is only a result of the consistent quality that they were known for. Pick this up, if possible.

Written for http://ritesoftheblackmoon.tripod.com

- Split picture 10" by Painkiller Records [PKR-020] April/2003 limited to 1000 copies.

- Split 7" by Hells Headbangers [HELLS EP 001] 2003
The 7" green-swirled vinyl is limited to 200 copies ; the 7" bestial black vinyl is limited to 800 copies. Both 7"s present different artwork (right picture)

Centinex "Enchanted Land":
Music and lyrics by Tom Angelripper & Sodom.
Recorded & mixed at Black Lounge Studios, November 2000, by Centinex.
Layout by The Eyeless.
Nunslaughter "Preacher": recorded at Bedroom Studios, Cleveland, Ohio U.S.A.

7" layout by Don of the Dead.

The CD version of two separate Necrosis LPs. It omitted the Cadaver track "Hypertrophyan".

The Carnage album was also released separately on Relativity/Earache (cat.-no. 88561-1105-2).

The Cadaver tracklist is inaccurate - it fails to list the track "Erosive Fester" (track 13), and mistakenly lists "Tuba" and "Ignominious Eczema" as separate tracks (11 and 12), when they are in fact joined together as track 11. This in turn means that what is listed as track 12 and 13 ("Ignominious Eczema" and "Corrosive Delirium", respectively) is also incorrect, tracks 12 and 13 are really "Corrosive Delirium" and "Erosive Fester".

The spelling mistakes ("Petrifyed Faces", "Mental Abherrance") are as listed on the album.

The tracklist shown here is correct.

Carnage - Dark Recollections:
Recorded at Studio Sunlight, February 1990.

Cadaver - Hallucinating Anxiety:
Recorded at Kaellen Studio during the winter 1989/1990.
Mixed at Studio 2, Sarpsborg, February 1990.

7" EP limited to 500 copies.
Sargeist's "Wraith Messiah", the only track carved to vinyl by the band on this release, is essentially in keeping with the stylistic approach pursued on the excellent "Satanic Black Devotion" but with somewhat less passion. However, there is an added measure of rawness in this production as compared to the aforementioned full length, which allows the vocals to be more grating on the ears. Musically, this track engages some variety of tempos. Emotions arduously bleed through a dismal desolation with the sense of bat dung and the murky gloom of cave dwelling. The lyrics are of the literary quality that has come to be expected from this band.
Side b is bumbled through by this Temple of Baal in what could be imagined as some juvenille whiskey fuel stupor of totally uninteresting nothing. Splitting this EP with such a band makes little sense. Another Sargeist track would have been far more appreciated.

So, we begin with two Valfunde tracks. The first, ‘Hospital’ is disappointing. There are no vocals, it’s completely instrumental. I wasn’t expecting that. It appears to be some sort of introduction to the main song, ‘"Serenade" De Verlaine’ but it’s presence is completely unnecessary. This wasn’t the best start. I found myself carrying my disappointment over on to the second track because of the sheer stupidity of the first. It was a ‘nothing’ track, as I like to call them. Songs that exist just for the sake of it. The content of the first song is simplistic. A lone guitar, quietly strumming along before the introduction of a higher pitched riff, which seemed completely out of place to me. It, at certain points, sounded like a dying whale. From there onwards the song didn’t stop spiraling downwards into the abyss of ‘shitness’. The odd main riff, accompanied by what sounds like a bongo and then the strange hissing vocals in the back make this one of the most forgettable songs in the history of music.


The second song was much stronger. However, as I said, my disappointment was brought over from one track to another. Although vocals play a much bigger role on this song, they aren’t that strong. They are decipherable, which struck me as odd. Considering I can only understand a small amount of French, the lyrics and vocals were useless to me at this point. There also seems to be an inclusion of female vocals, although they are very quiet and largely overshadowed by the male vocalist, who enjoys spewing his voice over everything. This, in a sense, nullifies whatever the female vocals are meant to contribute to the song. They may not even be female vocals! They could simply be this dude singing in a clean voice. The content is more impressive than that on the first track, but let’s be honest, it wouldn’t be hard to do better than that. The lead guitar does create some sweet sounding riffs, but they aren’t good enough to hold the attention for long periods.


On to the highlight of the split, the Amesoeurs song. I hate the fact that I will have to rate this split down due to the Valfunde side because the Amesoeurs song, ‘Les Ruches Malades’ is actually very good. Perhaps my favourite Amesoeurs song, in actual fact. The vocals are the most impressive inclusion in the song. The male vocals have been completely abandoned for the female vocals on this song, rather like the last song on the first EP. The vocals are strong, very strong. Beautiful, emotive and they fill me with nostalgia, a feeling I rather like. The soft approach by Amesoeurs compliments the vocals excellently. The bass is prominent on the song and applies a fair amount of melody to the proceedings. Alongside the lead guitar, the bass is well placed in the song. Thanks to the clear production, the instrumental side to Amesoeurs sounds polished and professional. Both instruments allow the vocals to take hold of the song and play a significant role in bringing the melody to the foreground. The beauty of the song is astounding. It stands out proudly for the entire song, which pleased me greatly. There is no room for mistakes due to the wonderful musicianship of the band. This track is the only one worth hearing from the split, which is rather unfortunate.