This release screams "Old School!!!" right from the packaging. It's the classic white print on black paper with a passable pen and ink depiction of a demon brutalizing Jesus. The music sounds accordingly, starting with five tracks from Florida's Black Witchery (who just need to bite the bullet and change their name!) The songs are no-frills, straight ahead Black Metal straight out of the Profanatica/Blasphemy mode. The guitars have the classic buzzsaw tone and the drums blast along unrelentingly through each track. My one complaint about this style is the somewhat mindless and repetitive tempo supplied by the drums, but in supposing what Black Witchery seem to be going for it works effectively enough. I would compare them to a more feral (and slightly faster) version of Thornspawn, including the same degree of histrionic blasphemy in the lyrics. Conqueror take virtually the same approach to their song-writing and execution, but it is not as convincing in that the production is lacking and thus the music itself is far less distinct. It would be easy to dismiss this band as one of the many "over the top" Black Metal also-rans, but they seem to have enough fury and mania backing them that if they produced a more definitive recording they could join the ranks of the most notoriously violent bands in the North American underground. In short, this split is certainly worthwhile however uneven it is in parts. Definitely recommended for fans of Christ-hating splatter Black Metal.

© 2000 w.s. diabolus