Split releases are tricky. Bands must have more than a few things similar so for the listener the release will flow as one, no matter of the different sounds or production values. In this case, this split digs deep in the 90s for two unknown Mexican bands playing both a very emotional style of Doom / Death Metal. DARK SADNESS the band that starts this release, presents what was supposed to be their debut album in 1996, with no previous recording. It seems that maybe they were playing a different style previous to these recordings, as the band does sound quite mature and performs a very emotional type of music, which clearly takes a lot of things from early THE GATHERING, ANATHEMA, PARADISE LOST and I might even add that some more melodic Death Metal like early IN FLAMES and DARK TRANQUILLITY can be found in their influences, although the band never plays fast. For a recording done in 1996, this sounds quite good, the clear vocals do not sound out of place and the cavernous death growls are very good. It is hard not to think of “Always…” as the most powerful reference to this work. And the riffs are also a bit Power Metal here and there, but the kind of heavy, less happy Power Metal. A shame the band only lasted a few years. As for A NAKED SOUL, their style is quite similar, and I might add that even the recording sounds a bit the same, this one sounds more amateurish. If I am not wrong both bands come from the same city, so maybe that will explain it. Again, another band which existed in the mid 90s and plays Death / Doom Metal. In this case the band sounds a lot like PARADISE LOST from the “Gothic” album. This is just a demo with 4 songs on it, and one can also hear many traditional Rock’n’Roll sound in some of the songs, although the raspy and cavernous vocals go along well with the slow melodic compositions. In this case, at times the band tends to sound quite similar in parts. As a whole, this is an interesting split, with both bands showing a similar style, although DARK SADNESS comes out as the better act here, lovers of Dutch and English Death Doom Metal bands will surely like this one. www.facebook.com/pages/american-line-prods/132289543506339