Old Soul & ██████ – Split

Artist: Old Soul / ██████ 

Title: Split

Release: LP

Year: 2014

Label: Zegema Beach Records, IFB Records, Dingleberry Records, Maniyax Records, Pike Records, Mosh Potatoes, Suspended Soul Records

I may be slightly fangirling but every time I see the black rectangle ██████ standing for those guys’ name (or its lack) I know I’m in for something powerful and personal. I’m kinda put off by the astonishing amount of raw, underproduced music from Poland, Czech Republic, Russia etc. I’m kinda sick of the xeroxed crust punk artworks shoving in my face just another poorly written anti-capitalist mumbo jumbo. That’s why I get excited about ██████ because behind the black geometric shape of their anonimousity lies deep love for music and words really worth sharing, shaped as a piece of art that few are able to assemble so crafty.

Unlike on their debut demo from last year ██████ are not alone on this record. Instead it’s opened by Old Soul. A US band I’m pretty sure I’m hearing for the first time. What they play is dissonant beyond reality and fractured black metal, but the band has gathered influences from a wide range of genres, so don’t be surprised if you hear crust, post-rock and mathcore. Both tracks are a chaotic soundscape with extreme peaks, where walls of distortion and painful voices are sometimes soothed by beautiful melodies that are either heavily distorted or, on the contrary, semi-acoustic and comforting. The tracks are quite different from each other and if it weren’t for the different production you might think that “Emerald” is a song by ██████. So much for splits not being homogeneous. This one is perfect. I’m just a little annoyed because at the time I’m writing this I can’t find any lyrics for the Old Soul tracks and I’m pretty curious what they’re about. I’ll be sure to catch up on the band’s discography.

Let’s take a look at ██████. First of all, a huge leap forward in terms of production. The old sound of the band is now left in their demo and we have a great, a bit more polished, but again very fitting work that allows every single detail the band put into these two pieces to stand out. And there’s a lot going on in barely 20 minutes of music. We are introduced to V by a slow-paced ambience, structured by guitar chords. They come patiently in waves to let a great acoustic melody start a tense build-up. Then everything bursts into the fierce black metal ██████ is playing. It’s like a storm that burns in noises and glitches, while underneath a new layer of heavily distorted melodies starts to morph (Lurker of Chalice style). Once they’re gone, the piece undergoes another transformation from melody to pure hell. The same hell that VI unveils. No remorse in these tracks, just desperation-soaked Black Metal, building an altar to loneliness, solitude and isolation, a soundtrack to the inner battles each of us calls life. And the lyrics, the vocals… I swear, in Michal’s voice you can hear all of humanity crying out for help (“IV”)..

I am lying in the dirt 
Choking with my every breath 
I can’t breathe 
I can’t breathe 
I can’t breathe 
I don’t want to