Cold Winter Moon / In the Valley of the Shadow of Death

For many years I have been seeking out releases from the Australian master of solitude Sin Nanna predominantly through his solo black metal project Striborg. Most recently I came across this split album of his first demo under Striborg called Cold Winter Moon (1997) with his other solo project Veil Of Darkness' In The Valley of the Shadow of Death (1997). What I found was unexpected but, after many plays through, a very pleasant dark and atmospheric blend of black metal and ambient experimentation.

The first part of the album begins with Striborgs first demo. With the start of the first song it comes across as a well recorded instrumental opener which lulled me into a false sense of security figuring that the early Striborg might actually be well recorded for a change. But 30 seconds in and the bass cuts out and all trebled hell breaks loose. The vocals are strong and piercing and sit well among the mixes driving snare and thin guitar. The tracks here are paced far faster than I've come to expect from his releases but the overall sound is a compelling hint towards the extremes of his albums to come. The tracks are broken up from each other by strong ambient passages and openers before descending into his thinned black walls. The sound is rough, rougher than Striborgs usual lo-fi sounding projects but it is a unified sound. The only criticism I do have is that the songs don't tend to stick with you. I find that his later releases have hidden tunes that you can find your brain buzzing to days after listening but with this album it all tends to blur together and wash past. There are the occasional hooks that stick like the guitars buzzing onslaught in the openers "Misanthropic Isolation" or the Sunn O))) like drones of "Dark Veil of Death" but otherwise the album is what it is, a rough diamond. Not yet polished to the level of his later releases but still a good listen.

In the second half of the album comes Veil of Darkness' contribution In the Valley of the Shadow of Death. This is where I find the release really takes off for me. Again it's a little basic and the system noise buzz that hisses throughout is annoying but underneath you come across a dark, depressing, atmospheric mix of found noise, organs, guitars, vocals and so much more. The synths crackle and fade in and out with very few vocals to mark the passing of time and you get sucked in. A synthetic wind passes through much of the tracks that brings with it a strong mental image of being isolated in a very bleak and dark forest (something I feel Sin Nanna might have constructed deliberately).

This album is rough but the combination of these two projects makes for a strong release that I can thoroughly recommend to any listener who enjoys the darker and more experimental sides of black metal and dark ambient music.