HOWLS OF EBB / KHTHONIIK CERVIIKS - With Gangrene Edges / Voiidwarp (12" LP)
United States | Black/Death -&- Germany | Death/Black
Detailed Description
(Description by C. Conrad) Nuclear War Now! and Iron Bonehead Productions jointly present this befitting split LP from Howls of Ebb and Khthoniik Cerviiks, two of the most promising and unorthodox death/black metal bands of today. Although each band boasts its own distinct style, the combination is appropriate in that it perfectly represents two of the evolutionary offshoots that have recently begun to carry the genre in new directions. Howls of Ebb (HoB) first established its brand of "limbonic metal" with its debut full-length, "Vigils of the 3rd Eye," and has further refined it with a subsequent EP and most recently with its second album, "Cursus Impasse: The Pendlomic Vows." The three tracks that comprise HoB's side of this split, dubbed "With Gangrene Edges," pick up where the band's previous recording left off. Once again, HoB weaves a disorienting web of atonal riffs that lurch forward and backward at the same time, appearing to progressively pull each song apart at its seams before resolving into an uneasy oblivion. At the same time, Khthoniik Cerviiks has found itself on a similar point in its trajectory after having released three demos and its 2015 debut album, "SeroLogiikal Scars (Vertex of Dementiia)." With five tracks collectively entitled "Voiidwarp," Khthoniik Cerviiks's contribution to this split forges into similarly dissonant dimensions as those of HoB, highlighted by two nine-plus-minute songs that proceed along and teeter upon a treacherous precipice as would one without the foresight to know whether the next step will be the last. In order to visually reflect the dementia presented musically on this recording, Howls of Ebb and Khthoniik Cerviiks summoned the genius of Timo Ketola and Khraal Vri*il, respectively, to adorn each side of the LP jacket. With Nuclear War Now! and Iron Bonehead's partnership already firmly cemented through their past and ongoing collaborations, they look to the future with this release by featuring a union of two bands that continue to push their craft beyond previously-established norms.
