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Torturium / Ride for Revenge > Ride for Revenge / Torturium > Reviews
Torturium / Ride for Revenge - Ride for Revenge / Torturium

Finnblack and Finnbass - 78%

sunn_bleach, January 5th, 2022

The Ride for Revenge (RfR) / Torturium split is primarily known for the former band, which ended up wildly eclipsing Torturium's career all throughout the underground. Yet it would be unfair to diminish Torturium to superfluousness - there's great black metal here from both bands, while also showing the earliest incarnation of what is now recognizable as RfR's shtick.

While the Path of Dominion demo showed early black/doom stylings and experimental electronic tendencies, it is here where RfR becomes recognizable as an incredible bass-forward extreme metal band. All three of RfR's split tracks sound like they could be taken straight from the recording sessions of The King of Snakes. Though one of the only releases in which Harald Mentor plays all instruments, the defining characteristics of the first RfR LP are here in all of their grimy glory. "On the Rays of Victory" swaps between slow and slower dungeon black metal, with the percussion showing the first signs of that spacious, plodding aesthetic so present on The King of Snakes and Wisdom of the Few. It ends in an unsettling coalescence of bassy electronic synthesizers that lapse into the demented organ introduction of "Justine" - which, for my money, is one of RfR's best-ever recordings. Though it follows a very similar compositional style to "On the Rays of Victory" (organ fades in, organ fades out; drums get big, drums get small), it just so perfectly captures the sheer vibe of RfR's most discomfiting music. Final track "Remember the Curse" is not nearly as hot as the former two tracks; Harald Mentor hadn't yet discovered that you can change up your drumming and still keep it occult. Lots of criticisms toward RfR as a one-note band may be traced to songs like these.

Torturium's side is utterly and completely different. There couldn't be two more different approaches to black metal than what's on this split. It's like these bands decided to release together to purposefully juxtapose RfR's bass with Torturium's treble. Both "Blasphemous Contemplation of the Void" and "An Apocryphal Luciferian Code" are the epitome of Nordic lo-fi black metal aesthetics, especially in the early/mid-2000s. Not that this is a bad thing; Torturium is as spiteful and chaotic as one might expect at this point in black metal's history. Like with the RfR side, the first track shows this best, with Arttu Pulkkinen aptly evoking the "torture" of "Torturium" in his manic vocal delivery. There are some great synthesizers underpinning parts of "An Apocryphal Luciferian Code", but overall it's a bit too indebted to Burzum in 1992.

That being said, those coming to this split solely for the RfR portions might be pleasantly surprised by the quality of the Torturium side. Finnish black metal has always been an exceptionally involved scene, and it's great to experience two bands with such wildly dissimilar attacks on the same genre in a bite-sized package like this. Great split, bring on the dancing horrors.

Can't hear the bass in your black metal, eh?! - 81%

Napero, May 24th, 2009

This interesting split between the two finnish black metal bands works surprisingly well despite the incredible unbalance between the bands. Both are quality groups, but the difference in their styles makes this the most incompatible line-up on a split release ever.

Ride for Revenge is a band that could be said to exist for the sole purpose of proving that there is a bass in black metal. Of course there is, on almost every black metal album, and claiming that there isn't is often just a sign of the listener's inability to pick up the instrument from the chaotic and intentionally thin sound. But Ride for Revenge does things in its own way. They've discarded the most metal instrument of them all, guitar, completely. The music is a bit difficult to categorize, but the combination of bass riffs, drums and whisper-growled vocals sprinkled with some atmosphere-building synths is an effective payload.

The three Ride for Revenge tracks here resemble each other perhaps a bit too much, and especially the drumming is monotonous, but in the context of a short 20 minute split, the repetition does not have enough time to turn into a liability. The band builds an effective soundscape, and with the use of simple echoes, manages to make the whole sound cavernous. The vocal style is a serious contender for the Opinion-splitter Oscar, and the whole sound is a love-it-or-loathe-it deal. This split is a nice sample of the style, and those seeking more after loving it are kindly adviced to seek The King of Snakes full-length for more of the same, although with a lot more variance between the songs. This is an original way of making music, and while such an attempt might well end up being nothing but a curiosity, the three tracks here are enjoyable in small doses... three tracks being very close to the optimum.

Torturium hits the listener with two tracks of more conventional black metal. The thin, abrasive sound resembles tearing linoleum floor tiles in half, and the mildly above average tempo combined with traditional shrieked vocals works nicely. The production on both sides of the split is very fitting, and even the Torturium side has an audible and enjoyable bass presence.

Torturium's contribution might perhaps be described as a average black metal, but it is not bad by any stretch; perhaps just more of the "typical" black metal, and definitely not mediocre. It just doesn't stand out in any particular way among the thousands of black metal bands, and a couple of days after listening to the tracks, it would be next to impossible to name the band based on samples of these tracks. Decent, even good, but not particularly memorable in the way Ride for Revenge's tracks are.

It's always interesting to compare the bands on a split, and contemplate the balance between the styles. Here, the two bands are a lightyear apart, and it's impossible to speak of any kind of balance in the usual sense. The combining factor between the bands is mostly just the geographical reality, they both originate in the town of Lappeenranta. But no matter how different they are, the split is still a good experience. It is suitably short, and the ten-minute samples of their musical output is, in both cases, a perfect dosage.

A strange combination of bands, but an enjoyable release in any case. The next time someone says black metal lacks bass, mention this split and leave the fieldwork to the tone-deaf moron.