Xasthur / Angra Mainyu

Xasthur
I have heard better of them
45

There is something odd about Xasthur's share on this release. Having four songs on a split album does not necessarily imply that these would these sound similar or are of a close resemblance. Bands should have all the freedom they need when it comes to create art, but some sort of a red line would always be a neat thing to see. Regarding this release such would be missing. How comes?

Basically the absence of flow in the music, created through the compositions, makes it a strange experience to listen to. While the first two tracks, A Sermon in the Name of Death & Soul Abduction Ceremony, differ little in style, a distraction would occur with the third one; namely, The Funeral of Being. This instrumental does not fit and is, due to the strange sound of the keyboards, simply out of place and not coherent with what had been presented before. Tempo, atmosphere etc. switch from one second to the other and leave the listener baffled over what is happening. Some of what it lost during the instrumental can be regained with the fourth and last track of Xasthur's share, Ort der Ensamkeit (Wigrid cover), but the plain motives and excessive repetition of riffs uncovers some of the short-comings of Xasthur's art.

This American band offers nothing out of the common from their usual approach of writing music. Malefic's distorted screams, dissonant keyboards, a good deal of reverb in the guitars, monotonous drums, which would occasionally start to switch to some blasts for no particular reason and the cold and icy sound in which everything is wrapped in. Would it not be for the short-comings that have been mentioned before, this piece could be described as solid.


Angra Mainyu
Not bad, but not consistent enough.
55

There is a huge gap between the music performed by Xasthur and Angra Mainyu. The Germans stick to some kind of rawer concept, whose elements consist basically of vocals, guitars and snare/cymbals; in this order. A bass-guitar and the bass-drum are somewhere in the background, but they have little impact on the music at all; the mix is responsible for that. Even though the play of these two instruments can be identified at times, they are not entirely vanished, there is no impact going out from them on the performance of the band. Take them away and the music would not loose much of its punch. Generally, the music has a touch being depressive, with slow played melodies and some rare moments in which the band breaks out of this rather monotonous play.

Those six compositions are not bad; they are just too plain at times and too generic in their approach. In terms of characteristics they follow too close what has been done to death in the black metal underground. The production kills a lot, especially those parts in which nothing but the guitars can be heard -- They Bleed to Death --, might have a different atmosphere with more volume in the sound. At least they vary their approach to write music enough and do not merely stick to slower music; the aforementioned track would be the exception as well as the positive aspect of this release; somehow ironic.

Some interesting moments can be found in these six compositions, but the quality cannot always shine through.

Recommended: The Light of Those Who Failed, They Bleed to Death

Final bits and bytes
Well, this release can be listened to at times. Yet when it comes to the quality of the songs, then other bands did a better job in this respect. Xasthur has better stuff to offer and when it comes to the Germans, then their 2007 full-length should be the one to get. When it comes to the best part of this split, then this title cannot be awarded easily, due to the different between the approaches in which both bands perform black metal. Yet, in terms of consistency Angra Mainyu did a better job.

Here we have another release from the new leader in U.S. Black Metal, Xasthur, teaming up with Germany's Angra Mainyu. This release sees Malefic giving us two new song, one re-recorded masterpeice, and a very bleak Wigrid cover. "A Sermon in the Name of Death" is a brutal and depressive dirge with some of the most tortured vocals I have heard in any Xasthur release. "Soul Abduction Ceremony" originally appeared on "Nocturnal Poisoning" and was re-recorded in febuary of 2003. Slightly more distorted production than the original, different druming patterns, same melancholic mood you should expect from Xasthur. "The Funeral of Being" is a slow and sombre outro like song, filled with haunting piano parts and clean guitar riffs. The Wigrid cover, "Ort Der Einsamkeit," is an appropriate tribute to the band with another haunting outro at the end. This being my first experience with Angra Mainyu, I was not thouroughly impressed. A rather generic and bland Black Metal band, symbolizing the continuing stagnation of the genre in my opinion. This is not nessecarily a bad group, nor are they horrible songs.Simply stated, they are standard, re-hashed black metal hymns. The standout Angra Mainyu track is "Der Drang Zur Resignation." Overall this release is an excellent addition for Xasthur collectors, and newcomers to either of these bands alike.