One of my favorite aspects of the modern black metal scene is the great splits we seem to be getting all the time these days. The latest in this seemingly never ending tide of top notch content is this killer offering from cult sweethearts Sea Of Bones and Ramlord. Featuring a track from each, both bands are on the top of their respective games, with Sea Of Bones throttling the listener with their classic brand of blackened doom metal and Ramlord choking you out with black metal fury.
Sea Of Bones have really taken things to the next level with their offering here. Their creepy soundscapes and punishing rhythms are at times terrifying. They have managed to conjure up the most wonderfully demented sides of the doom metal polemic and cultivate it into something of twisted magnitude. Meanwhile, Ramlord's typical throat searing lo-fi blasphemies deliver as usual. This is one of those bands who understand how to use the stripped down magic of the genre to their advantage in order to invoke sick and twisted worlds most have forgot. There is something wonderfully upsetting about both bands here: a sort of Lovecraftian horror that reflects the spirit of the genre.
It's hard in this day and age to find black metal that accurately reflects the miseries and intricacies of a genre meant for the damned. It's also rare to find music that touches the spirit in such an unwholesome way. Even as an experience listener there is something that will make you recoil just a touch at this split, but that's exactly why I love it. Both bands have found their own demented majesty and prove their broken twisted realities to be triumphant.
Score: 8/10
