D.U.K.E./Atavism Records, 2011
Genre: Black Metal
Hasserben:
1. Intro
2. Errance
3. La Marche de l'Hérétique
4. Topreur Mortuaire
5. The Vampiric Tyrant (Satanic Warmaster cover)
Searing Skull:
6. Le Soleil Meurt Chaque Nuit
7. Dead Upon the Cold Earth
8. Those Who Still Hope
9. Agony of the Universe
Side Hasserben: here
Side Searing Skull:
Even though this is the 5th release from Searing skull, I've decided to delve right into reviewing their side of this split. The main reason I'll go right into this one, even though I tend to try and go after full discography reviews is simply because I'm not that into the Searing Skull side of things, so it's unlikely I'll bother tracking down any of the earlier material.
Searing Skull has some decent riffs here and there, but mainly the whole production and songwriting is something I found kind of boring. It didn't really grab my attention at all. All the drums are programmed, and that gets distracting at times. I don't know why some bands get get away with that stuff, like Paysage d'Hiver, but it just doesn't work with this Searing Skull material. The guitar tone also seems to be way too fuzzy. So that didn't start things off well. Moments of the music remind me of Ad Hominem at times, but without the riffs that really hook you in. It also doesn't have that massive atmosphere of power that Ad Hominem can generate. Other times they try to take a more gloomy and atmospheric approach, touching on a bit of an attempted Ondskapt vibe, but it's only okay. It's tough to say much, because while Searing Skull isn't bad at all, but it's not excellent either. The best riffing is probably in the closing track of "Agony of the Universe", because at times it sounds really mean, which is very good. In the end this didn't really make me want to explore the band more, maybe the earlier material is better? I'm not really going to go out of my way to find it though.
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