Drug Darkness / Friedhof

This was a split I was originally gonna do for the review challenge, but I didn't got to it for some reason, so I'm gonna cover it now as more of a bonus for the review challenge. As per usual, I'll cover each artist separately.

Drug Darkness
Drug Darkness is another one of those raw black metal bands that barely anyone knows, but as far as his discography goes, this is one of his weaker releases. The guitars riffs are okay, but the mix buries it most of the time, as you have to listen very carefully in order to hear it. The drums also sound very quiet in the mix, and the beat patterns feel weak and generic compared to other black metal bands. And similar to Infernum's "...Taur-nu-Fuin...", the synths take up a lot of the mixing. The keyboards are okay, but they sound off-putting at times, especially in the track "Acid and Paliperidone". Seriously, the off-putting sound of the synths take away the atmosphere of the track. As for the vocals, they're decent. Sterile's shrieks have some emotion in them, and he gives the atmosphere of the tracks some more depth. As for some good tracks, I did like "Pharmacy Party", as the guitars sound more audible in that track, and the synths do give the song a more coherent structure. As for everything else, it ranges from okay to garbage. It's not completely horrible, but definitely not something I would want to put on every day.

Friedhof
Hey kids, do you know Grollfried? Well here he is, on this exact split! Actually, no, this is Friedhof. Yeah, Friedhof does have, at the very least, a heavily similar sound to Grollfried. But unlike Grollfried, who sounds sloppy a lot of the time, Friedhof sounds a lot better in the rough and noisy dungeon synth sound. The overall production on his side is a lot better, so the synths sound clearer. The synths themselves are also in a much better quality than in Drug Darkness's side, as they sound more professional and have this retro feel in them that gives the atmosphere of the tracks a more vintage tone. However, there are a couple times where the synths are so high-pitched, they sound very annoying, like in "Running Through the Night". The faster and groovy composition of the track is good, but those ear-piercing synths make you wanna cover your ears. I do, however, like the last two tracks of this side. "Teutonic and Transilvanian Blood" has a more somber tone in it, and the vintage sound is given a higher emphasis, so the overall atmosphere of the track feels more tragic. "Kerkerfrost" is also unique in having some lullaby-like synths play a more upbeat tune, ending off the side with a more optimistic tone. This side of the split is pretty good, as Friedhof executes the noisy dungeon synth sound better than Grollfried.

Conclusion
In a lot of ways, this feels more like the "Witchmoon vs. Grollfried" split I covered earlier this month. While Drug Darkness's side drags down the score with his horrible production and lackluster synths, Friedhof's side has an interesting sound in the noisy dungeon synth genre. If you're looking for something like the "Witchmoon vs. Grollfried", I'd recommend this split, but be cautious of Drug Darkness's side.