• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

This is a split between two one-man bands: the Irish Heinrichreich and the Belgian Taranis. My feelings about splits are always sort of mixed, as I often feel the presence of one band dilutes the impact of the other. Nevertheless, splits are an ingrained part of Black Metal culture, and represent a way for bands to get wider exposure.

First up is Heinrichreich, the more ambitious of the two bands on offer here. The music is melodic, with a lot of atmospheric touches in line with the Pagan/Viking themes of the lyrics. There's not a lot of blasting here, just involved, harmonized tremolo riffing. The vocals are croaky and mixed a bit too loud, interfering with the guitar work. In the future, I'd like to see Heinrichreich beef up their guitar tone and write more structured songs

Next we have Taranis, who are much more Black/Thrash, though still very much in the BM vein, with no 'Black N' Roll' traces at all. Overall I find Taranis more enjoyable, with hooky riffs and a solid mix that keeps the guitars front and center. They use some vocal effects, which I don't care for, but they don't overdo it. I would certainly be interested in a full-length from this band.

This is a cool split for fans of underground Black/Viking metal, the bands are similar enough in ethos to mesh well, but different enough in approach to be distinct.