Vermisst / Condescendance
(Morbid Chapel Records)
33:26min
VERMISST’s split with CONDESCENDANCE was released in 2022, but so far it was only available on a cassette, released by Asylum Tenebris. Later Morbid Chapel Records made it available on compact disc, so fans of this medium will be able to enjoy this material. Before being exposed to the materials inside, the first thing drawn my attention about this split is the arcane looking album cover. The ominous and mysterious looking castle in black and white layout of the cover should entice any lookers to listen to the materials inside shared by two Black Metal bands, VERMISST from Poland and CONDESCENDANCE from France. The first three songs on this compilation belong to VERMISST. Fans of raw and diabolical sounds need no introduction, because since 2018 these three Poznań artists have managed to record a lot of material, the existence of which is probably certain in the minds of Black Metal recipients. These fifteen minutes of music are filled with extreme misanthropy and darkness. The leitmotif of each track is a steady tremolo that effectively hypnotizes the listener into listening to the story told through Vorghast’s tormenting vocals. The icy guitars and inhuman sounding cymbals completely cover everything with frost, and the ghostly endings of the songs give the whole thing a truly terrifying character. And as soon as this ritualistic prayer ends, two shamans from CONDESCENDANCE take over the altar. This is a young project created on French soil recently. They only have a demo and five songs on this split. Their interests revolve mainly around vampirism, which, when combined with raw Black Metal, often borders on ridiculousness. Apart from the intro and outro, these gentlemen will perform in a similar tone as their predecessors. The guitars generate repetitive riffs here. They flow at a medium pace, carrying with them gloomy melancholic melodies that, like BURZUM once did, trigger in us a sense of delightful catharsis. This is due to the appropriately shouted lyrics by Tksräa M. as well as by adding a specific reverb to the whole. The flowing music seems to bounce off the walls of their basements and traps us, putting us into a strange trance. With all this, it’s a successful split, because both bands aptly demonstrate their capability on producing raw and menacing Black metal. Rawness, blackness and pure hatred seep from these compositions on this split, which deserve many listens from any faithful followers of Black Metal. For all further info on the release and bands, visit www.morbidchapelrecords.com.
Randolph Whateley