For serious Death Metal connoisseurs, Holland is home of some of the most unique and heavy bands that this scene ever produced. Whereas countries like Finland and – even more – Sweden had bands with a very similar style and production, Dutch bands sounded noticeably different from each other. In my humble opinion, this diversity is what makes the Dutch scene so special, since the bands aimed for a more distinctive sound, remaining at the same time loyal to the same classic foundations (VENOM, HELLHAMMER / CELTIC FROST, POSSESSED, MANTAS / DEATH etc). Two of the greatest, old representatives of the Dutch scene, PENTACLE and ETERNAL SOLSTICE, joined forces to release a great piece of underground Death Metal history. Specifically, this split release is consisted of two 7inches, consisting a total of four brand new songs, housed in a gatefold sleeve containing two cover artworks, one for each band, both of which have been crafted by none other than Manuel Tinnemans. Visually speaking, the release is very impressive with both pieces of artwork being mind blowing and carefully themed to reflect the context of the songs that they accompany. On the first 7" we have two new songs from ETERNAL SOLSTICE (‘The Venomous Womb’ and ‘Tempter Of Mankind’), which sound good, close to their old style and it’s good that this band still remains heavy and is able to deliver the goods. I admit that although good, I am not blown away by ETERNAL SOLSTICE’s side and I think that the band has written far superior tracks in the past. On the second side, we have what I consider as the most interesting part of this split release, which contains two brand new tracks from Death Metal masters PENTACLE. These two tracks are their first breath of life since 2005, so the 8-year silence has been finally broken satisfying the hungry fans who patiently waited for their return. Both songs (‘The Bloodless Eye’ and ‘Four Poisoned Tongues, Four Poisoned Arrows’) are just incredible, and a perfect example on what a differentiates a band with real experience and genuine dedication from the countless others. Just listen to the twisted, dark riffs with the typical heavy-as-hell FROST-inspired rhythm and you will get the message. The songs sound incredible effective, being typical PENTACLE, hard to get into in the beginning because there is so much happening musically-speaking, but once you are hooked up, it’s impossible to put them aside. Also the production sounds so very “old” and fits the music perfectly. This is Death Metal art at its purest form, art that remains timeless and PENTACLE is a band for real fans only. No matter the time and age, no matter what trends may come and go, this is the real deal. Don’t miss this if you still remember the ancient feeling… but, remember it always ruled! Note: the split release is available at different colors: black, orange (available from Iron Pegasus) and grey (available from Dark Descent, containing two patches, one from each band). For more details contact: www.iron-pegasus.de and www.darkdescentrecords.com