Artist..: Wolvhammer / Krieg

Album...: Wolvhammer / Krieg

Genre...: Black Metal                | Label...: Broken Limbs Recordings
Year....: 2014                       | Cat.No..:

R.date..: 2023-10-16                 | S.date..: 2014-06-24

Source..: WEB (16bit)                | Encoder.: libFLAC
Bitrate.: 967 kbps avg.              | F.Rate..: 44.1kHz

http://deezer.com/album/14903531

Disc 1 / 1

01. Wolvhammer - Slaves to the Grime                                6:08
02. Krieg - Eternal Victim                                          3:29

(69.83 MB) 00:09:37

New Jersey based black metal institution Krieg have teamed up with the
Minnesota based blackened sludge stalwarts Wolvhammer to release a limited
split 7” vinyl through Broken Limbs Recordings, with 300 copies on black
and 200 copies on black with green and yellow splatter. Love him or hate
him, N. Imperial has fashioned Krieg into one of the most prominent USBM
acts in history, churning out a steady flow of releases since the band's
1995 formation. Formed in 2008, Wolvhammer, to date, has released two full
lengths alongside a few miscellaneous releases.

In press releases, N. Imperial has stated: “Seeing that both bands have
shared members and toured together in the past it seemed only natural that
through this camaraderie we would eventually spawn a split release between
us. Both bands have provided sonic statements of intent for where we are
at this fine year of our lord 2014 and where we plan on traveling in the
future.” Makes sense, I guess. Even more so when you realize that both
Krieg and Wolvhammer are due to release new full length albums in 2014:
so, consider this a short teaser, if you will. Krieg's seventh full length
album, Transient, is due out in September of 2014 while Wolvhammer's
Crawling Into Black Sun is slated for a July 2014 release.

This split lends one side and one track to each band and has a grand
running time of just under ten minutes. Wolvhammer starts the show with
their so-called blackened sludge in the form of “Slaves to the Grime”.
While I detect hints of sludgy dank and blackened tendencies, this track
has ostensible punk and hardcore leanings, which is not a bad thing of
course, just unexpected. The band switches gears several times throughout
the track, going from the punkish swagger to a faster blackened attack
with rollicking drums and speedy, dissonant power chords and then back
again. Despite the varying approaches to the same formula, the entire opus
stays firmly rooted in mid-tempo pacing. The harsh, growling vocals are a
hefty mix of hardcore shouts and black metal snarls, which keeps the band
firmly blackened. I applaud the band's attempt to bring something
different to the table, but the song isn't overly memorable on its own.

Krieg's portion of the split, “Eternal Victim”, is, well, Krieg. If you've
listened to anything N. Imperial and his ever-changing band of misfits and
outcasts has recorded in the past decade, then you have a solid starting
point. The track starts off with a noisy, post-rock infused riff and
Imperial's trademark screams, as the undertone gradually swells and the
drummer goes off with spastic fills and rolls. This noisy riff continues
to surge forward until the band unleashes a monster of a crushingly
grooving riff which repeats for a few bars before delving into prime USBM
trem picking and blasting drums, which carries us to the end of the track.
If this is a preview for the upcoming full length, then consider me
interested, as this sounds heads about what was on The Isolationist.

While neither band's track is a dud, Krieg certainly steals the show on
this split. Despite the strength of this split, this will really only
serve as a collector's item, as it's limited to 500 copies. If you're a
diehard Krieg or Wolvhammer fan, then scoop this up quick, otherwise just
hang tight for the upcoming full length albums.

ixxu!imp