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Dark, splitting death - 80%
Hailing from northern Colorado, Tierkrieger has been playing live shows around the state for a while now, so I had the chance to see them live a few times and enjoyed what I saw. There aren’t too many blackened death metal bands in the area, so anything that came around was sure to catch my eye. PlagueHammer is from Cheyenne, Wyoming and I’ve also seen them live a few times. A great death metal band with black and thrash influences, they are a good fit for this split album. Containing ten songs, the first five are from Tierkrieger, with the latter half of the album being PlagueHammer’s domain.
On the first half of the release, Tierkrieger delivers a death metal sound that is distinctly blackened, and it works concurrently as the album chugs forward. Most of the time, Tierkrieger will utilize a slower sound, probably best described as old-school death metal. Black metal elements make themselves known as well, accentuating a sound that is akin to a slow-moving tank crushing everything in its path. Inhuman shrieks and guttural death growls are used in tandem. Tierkrieger takes their time as well, as all their songs are five or more minutes in length, with the remaining one coming in at four minutes.
Their second track incorporates a fantastic solo and some great bits that are devoid of vocals, which help add to the atmosphere. Some of my favorite parts of the album, is the aforementioned variety of vocal work, which is showcased well at the latter part of the third track, “Le Messe Noir” evoking a dark atmosphere. Musical variety with death/doom elements crawling in are heard on the fourth track, “Sacrificial Apostasy” with its slow, brooding introduction, before it unleashes into a furious firestorm that’s broken up with catchy pacing changes as the song progresses. I feel that the variety of the fourth song makes it one of the stronger points on the album, and despite being the shortest track by a minute, it still manages to cram a lot in.
The second half of the album belongs to PlagueHammer. Incorporating shredding into a mashup of death metal, hitting play is akin to taking a buzzsaw to the face. I would say that PlagueHammer is less blackened than Tierkrieger in terms of sound, taking more of a straight up death metal approach to things. Traces of darker black metal elements are still present, accompanied by thrash metal in order to keep the speed high. Pounding drums and a cataclysmic whirlwind of shredding, PlagueHammer pulls you into its vortex early on and refuses to let go.
The introduction to the shortest PlagueHammer track, “Deathless” is fantastic and despite the song length being less than ninety seconds, it’s a catchy track that frantically thrashes you around before tossing you away. Hints of Florida death metal are present in some tracks. I enjoyed solos like the one heard after the halfway part of “Conquerors Inferno” as a little bonus before the return to death metal happens. The track “Wolves” starts off with more down-tuned elements, giving it more of a groove sound to it, reminding me a bit of Gorguts. Despite variety being implemented, death metal remains the driving force behind these songs.
As a whole album, the production of it is strong, no elements overpower another. The order of the tracks provides a nice balance, creating build-ups and returning to the extreme metal. I think that both bands are guilty at times of having songs that sound similar, but the positives far outweigh the negatives for this heavy album. Ten songs of metal that don’t relent are found on this CD, and which don’t overstay their welcome. Having each band do five songs a piece gives them enough time to breathe and not feel so rushed. The album cover depicts demons attacking religious inhabitants of a medieval castle in black and white which fits with the themes and sounds created. If you told me this was recorded in a castle, I would believe it; the production has a clear sound but a bit hollow as well, as if the sound was reverberating off centuries old stone. Dark and brooding death and black metal is contained within, let the powerful forces of it take control of your cranium.
[Originally written for Metal DP]
