Various Artists splits are always rootsy and give out the explorer sense especially if the participants are not very well known. The trends set by Earache with “Gods Of Grind” or even “In The Eyes Of Death” from Century Media still rule and keeping the traditions active, Great Dane Records now releasing this little split album with an alluring title “Back To 90’s Old-School Death Metal!”. And it’s a really good opportunity to discover the three groups present – WRATHRONE and NECRODIUM from Finland and SPIRAL WOUNDS from Italy. Before even listening to the tracks included, what will strike heads early is the cover. Sébastien Mocker’s illustration of decomposing demonic imagery for this split leaves no doubt about the expectation of its content. It’s better to stay in a reptilian mode for the almost fifty minutes to come, because the eleven tracks present on this split paid their homage to Death Metal which is putrid and not necessarily ultra-fast or ultra-brutal. WRATHRONE opens the record. These Finns released their evil third album “Eve Of Infliction” in 2021, and it was a blast of traditional Death Metal, with the state of sound that is typical of this country. From there WRATHRONE offers three new tracks of exceptional quality and for these three tracks alone this split is simply indispensable for those who love ’90s Death Metal. With repeated listening to ‘Survive The Collapse’, anyone can be convinced that WRATHRONE masters its subject. The vocals of Matti Vhemas are an ode to death and the melodies of the agonizing guitars recall the darkest hours of traditional old-fashioned Death Metal. The production is incredible, and assuredly this group deserves to be so much better known. SPIRAL WOUNDS then taking over from WRATHRONE. They are a fairly recent group in its existence and you can immediately feel a clear difference in the melody, even if the melancholic side remains something omnipresent in the Death Metal of SPIRAL WOUNDS. Here they offer four songs from their EP released in 2021 and certainly in a style far from Italy, and closer to Scandinavia. NECRODIUM, the final pair of sleeves and the Finns bring an even different style to finish this split. NECRODIUM, which has existed for seventeen years and this group hasn’t released much in terms of an album, since “Remnants” released in 2015. Still from the demo and the split, it’s evident NECRODIUM is not the typical Finnish Death Metal, rather it prefers to manifest a gory and torturous sound to purge their disgust. Four new tracks that were recorded over the seasons between 2018 and 2023 get their space in here. If ‘Carnal Addiction’ lays the basis of violence, it is rather ‘Compulsive Mutilating Disorder’ which reveals the true face of NECRODIUM. And with some nasty old production, the barbarity of NECRODIUM will stay for long in head. With all that, “Back To 90’s Old-School Death Metal!” turns out to be a very good split that can be voraciously enjoyed with nostalgia of the glory days. More about the bands and label at: www.facebook.com/wrathrone, www.facebook.com/spiral-wounds-102291662205353, www.facebook.com/necrodiumofficial, www.facebook.com/greatdanerecords