Split albums are for me a way to solve a few things and one of those is to present more than one band at once (and save cash on the intent). Still, I think that split albums must be done in a way that the overall work of the artists involved are in a sort of “same way” so it turns coherent even having different bands, otherwise it is just a compilation. And very few releases are able to come out triumphant in that matter, Well, this one for instance is one of that very few that reaches that goal. The first band is from the UK, HAAR that has already a full length released before this split. Their style reminds me at times of SAMAEL with touches of “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas” MAYHEM era and to a greater extent to a dissonant but yet creative Black Metal like DEATHSPELL OMEGA. Also it is blessed with a very good production and a great execution. The band presents here 3 songs each well above the 6:30 minute mark. they do play with many speed tempos, although I think they do better going slow, but it is also then, when they tend to sound more similar. Yet what I have heard is enough for me to look for their other material. The other band is Australia’s UR DRAUGR with only one song, but it is well over 19:00 minutes! The style here is more Death Metallic, with a few Black Metal touches, yet the music here has more of an INCANTATION aura, again I can sense some older SAMAEL and even CELTIC FROST influences, with some very good guitar playing.They also use quite a variety of vocals, reminding me of ARCTURUS at times. The band also has some previous material released and also this is more than enough for me to check out what they have done. All in all a very good split and both very good bands. www.facebook.com/haarsounds, www.facebook.com/urdraugr, www.atmf.net