Bilskirnir / Szálasi

Bilskirnir:
The only Bilskirnir track on this split is a slightly altered version for the better of For The Return Of Paganism that featured on the EP with the same name and the debut demo For Victory We Ride. There is a slight simplification of some of the guitar riffs. This is because of the addition of some keyboards that are very much in the forefront and, for the most part, dominate the song. Sometimes the trebly guitar will play an arpeggio and will cut through the large keyboard sound, but this only happens during one riff. The drums are very low in the mix and most of the time all one will hear of them is the timekeeping snare drum. The vocals are the usual distorted vocals that are around the same level of volume as the guitar. Consequently, they do blend in somewhat.


The song is quite well written and I have to say that if all Bilskirnir sounded like this I would definitely be more enthusiastic about them. However, Bilskirnir do need to develop an identity of their own if they are to rise above the mass of other bands that are playing music in a similar vein. At times they can seem little more than average Burzum worship, which isn't the case on this split because of the addition of the overpowering keyboards. Still they didn't keep them for the future releases I've heard though (Vorväter and the split with Nordreich), which is a shame.



Szálasi:
Szálasi is a band featuring András from Verdeleth and Schwarzlose. There are some obvious similarities between these bands, the most noticeable being the drum programming. As usual with his projects there are strange, staggered drum rolls with constant volume changes, although at times there are some synth drums which don't appear in any capacity on his other works.

The guitars are very trebly, almost to the point of being on a similar level with Sort Vokter. As such, they also have similar properties as the guitars on Sort Vokter do i.e. as a sort of background accompaniment to ensure the music doesn't sound empty and are also the lowest thing in the mix which is quite rare for a Black Metal band. The bass and keyboard share most of the lead work with the guitar sometimes cutting it's way through the calm, blanketing keyboard. As in Verdeleth, the transcending bass floats along, playing the lead in a tired sort of way, occasionally adding some discordance here and there. The vocals are shouts that are extremely distorted, almost to the same level as the guitars. Even so, they don't blend together and are easily told apart. In my view, this is because of the passion behind the vocals stops it becoming a monotonous stream of distortion with one simple accent as a lot of distorted vocals end up becoming.


Overall, Szálasi has found its own unique sound which he has have successfully developed from the first demo, which I found to be your average synth Black Metal. Hopefully more material will follow, but with András seemingly concentrating on Verdeleth, we shall have to wait and see.