Aryan Blood / Eisenwinter

Haha, all I have to say is brilliant beginning. Maybe I just have a thing for having wartime samples introduce me into the album, but that caught me right away. So this is the split between Aryan Blood and Eisenwinter, to pretty decent National Socialist Black Metal bands. Just for being National Socialist they probably get a lot of bad wrap, but being not much of a political activity for either side I'm just going to sit down and appreciate the music here.

Aryan Blood starts off past their little two little intros (the first being a cool sample track, the second being a cool little RAC-esk intro) into a full fronted blast-beat tremolo picked Armageddon. High pitched shrieks and dying-raven gurgles echo through this release, tormenting the listeners ears, and I don't mean this in a bad way. Maybe not "everybody's" style for black metal vocals, but if your into that sort of thing then I'd give the vocalist a solid 8/10. The guitars on the release are simplistic and a treble haven, like many National Socialist bands that were coming out around the time of this release, but definitely have a pleasing sound, never going on to long to be boring, but never enough variation to become to chaotic. The drums are pretty standard for this style of music, with nothing being overly special, however they are solid and manage to keep the beat without getting annoying. The only problem I find is that the varying production and style between tracks creates a kind of inconsistency. However, it's a lot better then many of the other national socialist black metal bands that were coming out around the time where there songs just blend into each other.

Eisenwinter's start to their half of the album is dramatically less cool, with their intro reminding me of a minimal version of Mayhem's on their Deathcrush EP. Their entrance when it comes to their full songs is also a lot different then their counterpart, being a more calm, lo-fi, bass heavy, sound. The drums are buried beneath the sound of the guitars, and the vocals are faint in the background, a sort of grumble in the background, never being to forward or attempting to get out of a background roll. However, the guitar work is very solid in comparison to their previous band, creating a very melodic sort of approach.

This release is a solid split between two very promising NS bands, and it definitely showcases the bands in a positive light for those open to the production, style, aesthetics, and lyrical content.