The Vision of Fading Mankind

Both Temple of Baal and Ritualization hail from France, a country that’s currently gleaming from a steady set of black metal bands rising in the likes of Deathspell Omega and such. Temple of Baal and Ritualization have come together and joined forces to produce a batch of both abrasive black metal and intense black/death, respectively.

Temple of Baal open up the split, sharing with the listener four tracks of brooding, abrasive black metal. Their riffing is hefty, filled with, for the most part, common black metal tremolo riffs. Along with this, they also play host to an almost dissonant tone that they put into play very effectively. There is a good amount of variety throughout the four tracks, most of which is played in a style that’s not unknown to black metal fans, yet it’s more heavy and vicious than some other bands. There’s “Slaves to the Beast,” a more groove-influenced black metal track that has some catchy riffs and pounding double bass work throughout it, and there’s “Heresy Forever Enthroned,” a whopping nine-minute track that plays along a slightly slower tempo, the riffs having an ominous sound to them, slightly different from the rest of their songs which play along a faster and more intense style. (It even has a guitar solo, which in fact is actually not half bad). The vocals spew dense growls that blend in perfectly with the music, sounding more like death metal vocals than anything else, and the drums are always pounding and unyielding; blasting furiously in the background.

Ritualization take up where Temple of Baal leave off in the latter half of the split. They present three songs, one of which is a great Mortem cover. The other two originals differentiate quite greatly from what Temple of Baal accomplished in their own side of the split, being noticeably more old-school death metal influenced than the former; namely, a style that blends both black metal with death metal in the vein of Deicide and other old-school death metal acts. The production is less tight and perfected than Temple of Baal’s, yet this is not a bad thing, as it suits their brand of metal nicely. The vocals are much lower in register, lower in the mix, and the guitars are angrier than that of Tempo of Baal’s. The drumming makes use of lots of blast beats and fast double bass work, akin to most American death metal. They don’t offer as much as Temple of Baal, but they give listeners three decent tracks to headbang to as you clench your jaw and put your angry face on. There’s not very much variety, but there’s not much room for it either; respectable tracks nonetheless.

Both bands contribute different styles of black and death metal that makes for an interesting end result, and a split that’s worth getting. Temple of Baal is probably better than Ritualization, if not simply because they have more variety in their four songs. Ritualization aren’t bad either, and they’ll show the listener that they are very much into black metal, yet they stick very true to their old-school death metal roots. A somewhat hasty yet still decent and entertaining achievement.

-SmithMetal84
Originally written for http://ravenousreviewswebzine.blogspot.com/

The Vision of Fading Mankind serves as a showcase for two of the brighter, more promising bands on the French underground, even if their individual sounds don't have a terrible lot in common. Of the two, Temple of Baal are the more experienced, having about 13 years below their belts, three full-lengths and various other splits and demos. On the other hand, this was my first exposure to the group Ritualization, who had one demo that was re-issued through Iron Bonehead on LP, which I sadly missed. This happens pretty often, that I'll probably never have the time to search through the demo reels and cover all full-length albums simultaneously, and through the years I've simply found the latter more rewarding.

Digressions aside, the Temple of Baal contribution to this split is a quartet of tracks that are consistent with their most recent full-length, Lightslaying Rituals, which I have also reviewed. They bring a dense, ominous guitar tone in here which immediately lends itself to a striking, corpulent atmosphere beneath which they alternate rapid tremolo black metal sequences with jaw clenching double bass passages and chugging mute grooves, while the vocals dance between growls and snarls. Nothing subtle about what this band does, they simply bring the fucking clobber straight to the listener's personal space and don't even bother to dust up the ashes, and I'm sure tunes like "When Mankind Falls" and "Slaves to the Beast" are bound to be the roots of numerous lawsuits in the near future, so pit-friendly and punishing they are. One of their songs here, "Heresy Forever Enthroned" is a bit over-inflated at 9:40, but in the band's defense they vary this one up almost enough that you don't notice...

On the other hand, Ritualization have a pummeling old school, brutal death metal aesthetic about them that recalls Floridian legends like Deicide or Malevolent Creation. Rapid flurries of flesh branding mute-streams are glazed with brief, uncouth lead sequences and a vocalist that grunts percussively over the far more involved musical undertow. The production of their three contributions here is admittedly thinner and less fulfilling than those of Temple of Baal, but it works with what they're playing, and I especially liked the hustle and bounce of the bass lines and the mesmerizing, semi-technical evil melodies. What's more, in addition to their own pieces "Ave Dominus" and "The Second Crowning", they've covered "The Devil Speaks in Tongues" from the underrated Peruvian monsters Mortem. The song seems simpler in structure than their originals, but the production helps to breed consistently with the other offerings. And it's a great song...and a tasteful choice.

I don't think I could choose a victor here, and I don't need to. Temple of Baal certainly have the production element down, while Ritualization have more vicious, involved riffing. Each outfit is intense in its own right, and with luck, both evolve into favorable squads that can fill in the absent shoes of countrymen like Gurkkhas and Yyrkoon.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com