Spooky

When you think of Hells Headbangers, a few bands immediately come to mind. I am reviewing a split re-release featuring two of those bands; Acid Witch and Nunslaughter who each offer some incredibly unique songs. This sure promises to be one fun record.

"Evil" (Acid Witch) opens with eerie whispers before crushing death-doom riff madness and haunting synths bring in a fresh soundscape of all this is Acid Witch. Piercing riffs and grotesque snarls punch us in with some of the most ferociously gruesome music they have ever performed. Among the gurgling vocals and drudging riffs the upbeat synths keep that 80s horror movie soundtrack touch that the band have used beautifully over their career. There is ambience that gives the terrifyingly esoteric music atmosphere among the signature grooves, gorgeously done. Total headbanger fuelling riffs grind us back in with a whiplash blend of meaty riffs and shredding lead work. Acid Witch are back on top form and what a great way to kick off this split. Excellent. "Spooky Tails" (Nunslaughter) forcefully kicks in with meandering guitars, thunderous bass work and neck-snapping drums, a slower start than I expected from them which drives out macabre vocals over tremolo picked guitar ferocity stunningly. Chugging savagery on guitars, chiming drums and ripping vocals create a tormenting mixture of all the fiercest Nunslaughter sounds but with a cavernously mid-tempo approach to the songwriting that really caught me off guard. With a near infinite abattoir of releases through their career, Nunslaughter still have the ability to surprise me. A crawling affair of morbidity. Brilliant.

"A Sordid Past" (Nunslaughter) churns in with a yell and more barbaric guitars at a blistering pace, much more what I expect from the band. Fiercely invasive instrumentals and insanity-inducing vocal howls give a searing assault of truly menacing extremity that hits hard, with precision, an art the band have certainly perfected. This song offers so much blast-beats, grisly riffing and demonic vocals that the violation is complete in under 2 minutes, but it is damn thorough. Fantastic. "Fiends Of Old" (Acid Witch) sets in with some sampled speech that suitably introduces the finale to this split, provoking all metalheads who will listen. A ripping inferno of crunchy guitar riffs and barrages of drum attacks hit hard with a more blackened vocal approach this time around, certainly seeing a new side to both bands on the split. Beautiful synths and epic grooves quickly delve into a cacophony of delightfully spooky Heavy Metal most macabre. I have to say that although I love Acid Witch best with their blend of death-doom, they can conjure up some monstrously crushing thrashy sections too. This finale is catchy, beautifully atmospherics, haunting and totally spooky! Wonderful.

Both bands offer a deluxe yet unique slab of truly intense horrifying extreme metal that will get you headbanging, creeped out and totally ready for Halloween. I think this is one of the best splits to grace not only Hells Headbangers but the Heavy Metal world in general, it takes two completely different bands but they work together beautifully in creating haunting heavy metal Horror headbangers to the best possible extent. Marvellous material from both bands, hopefully more to come from each soon!

Written for www.nattskog.wordpress.com