IMPUREZA, who kick this split CD-R off very impressively, are hailing from France, they play brutal, quite technical Death Metal, have two vocalists in their ranks and their lyrics are written in Spanish (!!). Ooops! But if you already tend to consider this a quite weird combination, then please tell me what you think of the fact that they also incorporate flamenco (!!!!) parts in their writing, huh?! But even though it sounds like a bad joke at first, it works out extremely well, never comes across ridiculous, but fits their complex brutality rather well instead. I personally was extremely impressed by their three songs on this split CD-R (originally released as their first demo "Y Correra Tu Sangre" earlier this year) and have already played them various times. With the right label to back them up these guys could become huge in the not too distant future – and yes, you can definitely quote me on that! Next up is the Swedish five-piece ARSONIST who have previously already been described as a mix between fast, technical Death Metal and the old school Florida sound and that sums it up pretty good indeed. Three members of the band used to be part of the Death Metal horde MONOLITH (from 1998 – 2002) while the other two are still active in PANDEMONIUM nowadays (who recently released their second album "The Autumn Enigma"). ARSONIST’s contribution to this split CD-R is their entire second demo "Therapy In Violence" (from 2006). The three songs easily impress with a solid, very exciting songwriting, which is full of variation and definitely far away from all the blastbeat monotony that seems to be so hip these days. The vocals need a really positive mention here as well, as they are very brutal, yet with a David Vincent like clearness to ’em. Just like IMPUREZA’s demo also ARSONIST’s offers an amazing quality in the production (lots of albums these days sound worse!). Awsome! Two German bands complete the picture here. First up is SUDDEN DEATH, a quite established unity in the underground with several releases out already, yet a "first listen" to me. Very brutal, pure Death Metal with obvious influences from CANNIBAL CORPSE, VOMITORY and the likes is what you get here. All in all very well executed, but compared to the other bands on this split release unfortunately a little too ordinary for my taste, I’m afraid. And last (but definitely not least) there’s INGURGITATING OBLIVION, a band that shouldn’t be unknown to regular VOICES readers anymore as they got praised more than once by Ramon in the past and as a result also opened up our 10th Anniversary festival. The three songs on this split were taken from the band’s excellent "Poetry Of The Flesh" promo demo, which got them a deal with the US label Unmatched Brutality Records. At least all those of you who own their debut full length "Voyage Towards Abhorrence" will already know that this is a very sinister mixture of IMMOLATION, MORBID ANGEL and INCANTATION, always performed on a very high musical level and destined to be worshipped by the majority of readers here. While the tracks ‘Poetry Of The Flesh’ and ‘Veil Of Perception’ also made it onto the album, ‘Deconstructed Creature’ remained a demo-only song so far and therefore the inclusion here is more than justified. So, all in all this is another killer release from Nihilistic Holocaust, and a feast for all Death Metal lunatics around the globe! More info you may find on the band’s websites www.myspace.com/impureza, www.myspace.com/arsonistmetal, www.suddendeathmetal.de and www.ingurgitating-oblivion.de. For ordering info contact Gab via his own website at http://site.voila.fr/NIHILISTIC