Liste der Bands Death Metal Dyscaphia Split Roast

The band that managed to draw me to this particular split was Magpyes, having chanced upon them on Facebook and finding out that they play a fusion of black metal and grindcore, with tongue-in-cheek lyrics and song titles such as Stealing Old At The Gates Riffs Doesn't Make You Metalcore, It Makes You a Thieving Shit, providing a fun time to those who bother looking over the silly titles and the underlying music. What better way then, than to have 4 other bands playing similar styles of music to come together under the banner of Split Roast?

Colonel Blast leads the pack with Power by Proxy, letting the listener have a preview of what to expect for the rest of the split, with the high energy riffing and the barks of vocalist Matt Bolton. The odd and constantly changing time signature throughout the song displays the progressive edge of the band, topped off by the inclusion of a soft, clean section on the guitars that brings about a contemplative moment in the music. The Crime is Passion then surprises listener by removing all the bullshit and presenting listener with in your face blast beats (that will continue throughout the rest of the song), yet the riffs retain some form of emotional feel despite the progressive and jarring style of the guitars.

Cancerous Womb brings their no-nonsense brand of music first with Torn from Gunt to Cunt, opening their segment of the split with an aggressive blast beat reminiscent of Polish giants such as Behemoth's Inferno or Infernal War's Stormblast, backed by chaotic guitar riffs and a brutal death metal/grindcore styled vocals by Chris Lewis, former vocalist of Cerebral Bore. The inclusion of a live version of Austrian Basement proves the ability of the band to execute their music excellently live as well, though the spoken parts at the beginning moments of the song are slightly distracting and awkward. It is on the live version where the band also seems to fully utilise the different styles of vocals, with pig squeal styled vocals often layered on top of the low growls, providing the listener with a fuller vocal style.

True to their grindcore roots, the songs provided by Magpyes on this split mostly last less than 1 and a half minute (with the exception of Willem Fucking Defoe), beginning with Lord ov Swords. The listener is instantly reminded of a less polished, more chaotic and speed-starved version of fellow countrymen Anaal Nathrakh and their take on black metal/grindcore. The mixture of trem-picked black metal styled riffs with the shouted/growled vocals of Damian all mash together nicely, satisfying fans of both genres (though purist black metal fans would probably beg to differ). Willem Fucking Defoe displays a different and slower side of Magpyes with the introductory section, before the frantic drumming of Robson3000 comes in once more, almost as if going any slower could kill the band, yet this is what makes Magpyes' stuff so enjoyable and addictive.

After the chaotic section provided by Magpyes it would certainly be hard to match up and to continue grabbing the attention of listeners. Dyscaphia starts off their set in an extremely calm manner in contrast to the chaos provided by Magpyes, with a piano section before surprising listeners by breaking into their real style of music. The band knows how to include quirky moments in their music to keep things interesting, such as the almost out-of-place guitar line on Impious Conflagration, seemingly to test whether listeners were paying attention to the music. Riffs on songs such as Altars to the Wretched bring a black/death metal moment, reminding listeners of bands such as Perdition Temple and the style of riffs that Gene Palubicki tends to bring to his various bands and projects.

Diascorium, as the final band on the split definitely has the toughest job among the 5 bands, and fortunately they do not disappoint. My Own Exegesis displays their style of technical black/death metal, with the extremely technical guitar riffs backed by the prominent bass lying beneath the rest of the instruments, yet lashing out complicated lines one after another. One thing that put me off slightly though was the inclusion of the pinch harmonics, that got slightly overused as the songs progressed. However, this was made up by the short runtimes of the songs, unlike most technical bands that prefer long technical wankery that usually end up boring me instead. Interjection... is an instrumental piano interlude, and instead of leaving listeners with a calm (like how most "piano" interludes are meant to), manages to give listeners one last moment of insecurity before the album speeds towards the finish line. Reduction to the Absurd is an excellent example of the style of Diascorium, a perfect balance of technicality and melody.

The album ends of with Self Modifying Game (Incandescence remix), an almost electronic-sounding track with the erratic beats and mix of the various instruments, with a foreboding atmosphere, leaving the listener scratching their heads, wondering what just happened, yet provides a nice and fitting end to this chaotic (and I mean this in a good way) release.

While I am mostly not a fan of splits and compilations, I have to say that Split Roast has certainly given me a nice surprise with the inclusion of 5 top-notch bands. Do not be fooled by the album artwork on Split Roast into thinking that this is just another of those nonsensical grindcore release, as the music will eventually speak for itself once one gets past the initial impression by the album artwork.