This is a review of a split album between U.S.A's Demiurge and Germany's Askvald called "Where Spirits Dwell To Teach in Vain" which was released by Wolfmond Production and we will start off the review with Demiurge a solo project that plays an atmospheric form of ambient black metal.
Their side of the split starts out with some clean playing before going into a heavier direction while most of their tracks are also very long and epic in length. When guitar solos and leads are e utilized they are also done in a very atmospheric style and the vocals bring in a mixture of deep growls and grim black metal screams.
At times the music also gets very atmospheric sounding along with some clean vocals also being utilized at times. When the music speeds up a decent amount of tremolo picking and blast b eats can also be heard as well as the synths also bringing in elements of ambient, the songs also add in a good mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and his side of the split closes with a cover of Darkthrone's "Dance of Eternal Shadows". The production sounds very dark and raw while the lyrics cover Occultism and Darkness themes.
In my opinion Demiurge are a very great sounding atmospheric and ambient black metal solo project and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out his side of t he split. RECOMMENDED TRACK "Axion".
Next up is Askvald a solo project that has had music reviewed before in this zine and on this recording plays an atmospheric form of black metal.
His side of the split starts out with some acoustic guitars and nature sounds before going into a heavier direction. When synths are utilized they also give the music more of an atmospheric feeling along with all of his tracks also being very long and epic in length and the vocals a re mostly grim sounding black metal screams.
When the music speeds up a decent amount of blast beats and tremolo picking can be heard which also gives the songs more of a raw feeling. The riffs also add in a great amount of melody along with the solos and leads also adding in a lot of melody as well as the songs also adding in a good mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts, clear vocals and spoken word parts can also be heard at times and his side of the split closes with a cover of Summoning's "Land Of The Dead". The production sounds very dark and raw while the lyrics cover nature, society, personal conflicts and experiences.
In my opinion this is another great sounding recording from Askvald and if you are a fan of atmospheric black metal, you should check out his side of the split. RECOMMENDED TRACK "Pale White Nothingness".
In conclusion I feel this is a very great sounding split and i would recommend it to all fans of ambient and atmospheric black metal, 8 out of 10.
https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Askvald/3540399654#
https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Demiurge/3540432486#
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