Perdition / Svartidauði

Split recordings are ideal opportunities for music fans to find out about new bands as well as hear favourites without fear of wasting money on recordings that don't agree with them. Although if you're already a fan of Svartidauði, you might find some room in your heart for Chilean band Perdition whose style and lyrical concerns overlap those of the Icelandic band. This split was released as a 7-inch vinyl single with a print run of - what else??? - 666 copies.

Perdition charge out of the starting gates at full blast with steel guitar battery attack, choppy stuttering blast-beat percussion with occasional rolls and icy cold phantom tombstone vocals. The band's sound is heavy enough though compared to Svartidauði it's on the tinny side and a bit brittle. There's plenty of energy and there are some good slashing riffs. When all is said and done, perhaps the most memorable parts of the song are the drum rolls which I guess doesn't say much about the band's style of thrashy black / death metal. The duo need to work on their song-writing and composition skills so the music isn't flailing and losing focus.

Svartidauði's contribution is far superior with a deeper, fuller sound that's just as fast - maybe even faster - and packs in more melody and tremolo riffing as well. The emphatic lyrics have far more vivid imagery of defilement and destruction of religious idols. Admittedly this song is just over a minute longer than the other but the Icelanders make every moment count while they have your attention. The tension continues to build throughout the song with layers of vocals added in the latter half.

For energy and passion alone, this split is worth your attention especially if you love this style of sacrilegious Satanic black metal. Svartidauði fans can appreciate just by the contrast between the band and Perdition how tall their heroes stand in their genre.

I really would have liked to hear more from both bands: Svartidauði's effort could have been a bit longer, maybe a couple of minutes, and the other band could have had another track.