Winds ov Decay / Occult Ceremonial Rites

I discovered Black Altar (and Odium Records, the label run by Black Altar main man Shadow) via their 2020 split with the Norwegian band Kirkebrann. After having listened to this one I immediately went on to check some of their older stuff. “Winds of Decay / Occult Ceremonial Rites” is another split from 2017, also with a Norwegian band. This time they have shared the stage with Beastcraft, name that some black metal heads might remember, but who have meanwhile split-up according to MA.

Starting the show are Black Altar. At first I have been glad as I thought there are six new songs to discover, but a closer look unveils the fact that there is one intro, one outro, a cover of their split partners Beastcraft and some kind of Techno/Industrial version of one of the songs. So in the end we just get 2 really new songs which have been titled “Tophet” (which is the one also coming as industrial version) and “Winds of Decay”. While I have been a bit disappointed at first the listenability of those 2 tracks is amazing. The other stuff is also nice and expertly crafted, but I won’t go into much detail regarding those.

The riffs of “Tophet” and “Winds of Decay” are hitting hard and furiously, and while it might be open for discussion if the world needs more songs in this particular style the quality is out of question. The main riffs have been forged with a lot of precision, combining rapid and fierce attacks and more laid-back and stoic chord progressions. Shadow and his crew are not afraid to go full dark with their black metal influences, but they also make sure to create a bleak and captivating atmosphere. The guitar work is excellent, and the often monotonous and brooding main themes are accompanied by some remarkable lead melodies. While the main chords are often repeated with only small variation, some shorter soloing parts are played with high intensity, giving the whole music a very rough and wild feel. On top of the instrumentation you get the howling vocals done by Shadow himself.

Beastcraft’s part is ceremonial black metal standing on its own as a hypnotic, captivating ritual experience. Ritualistic guitar chords work as counter harmony to the muffled shrieking of the vocals, pushed way in the back of the tomb. Lead guitar sounds are echoing in the hollows between the fierce tremolo runs. Often the band keeps blending the main riffs into a whitewash of warbling sound, like an unstable connection between our realm and the cursed lands of unfathomable darkness and sorrow.

The different feeling created by these two bands is further underlined by the production choices, with Black Altar going for a rich and very punchy sound, while Beastcraft has kept things very raw and has put a lot of hall and reverb on top of their music, lending it a very distant character. In the end both bands act as a side of one coin, giving curios black metal fans a lot to discover over the 45 minutes running time.