A combination of crusty, thrashy and unorthodox black metal
What we have here is a split between two American black metal bands and just like USBM is, it's two pretty different projects but they still fit together. Nuclear Hellfrost is from the midwest and Tetragrammaton is from the sunshine state of Florida. While I'm a bit outside of my comfort zone with this release as it's pretty raw black metal, I can definitely enjoy the music as it's damn nice stuff. The release is very short, only twelve minutes for five songs but it's worth a look.
Nuclear Hellfrost's side is 3 songs including an Hirax cover and they play a very punky/crusty form of black metal. It's trashy as fuck too. The members are also in Nak'ay who are more of a grindcore band with shorter songs, they're pretty interesting as well if you like the style. Nuclear Hellfrost's vocals are what you could expect from a lo-fi band, they're screechy but not without their charm. The crust influence is also more present than in the riffs. The production is crap but I really don't mind, the riffs are pretty audible anyway. The second track ''Necrotic Upheaval'' has a very good riff reminding me of Nifelheim a bit but played with the means of a vegan punk living in a hippie community. It also has some interesting samples at the beginning, I'm not a fan of them but it worked at creating a spooky atmosphere.It's very infectious and I appreciate heir very fast paced approach and their punk influences. They're a band worth your time if you like your black metal with a crust and some thrash filling.
Tetragrammaton on the other hand is more on the traditional black spectrum. I'm reviewing this split because of the band's submission on the Metal Archives. I approved the band sent them a message due to their interesting imagery and name. They agreed to send me the tape in exchange of this review and I'm grateful for it. Their sound, albeit quite fast as well, is darker and more laid back. It has a semi unorthodox feel, not enough to piss off the detractors of the style though since it's not quite technical. The material on their 2012 is a bit better in my opinion, it's not as dark and wicked though, it's slower and almost doomy. Nevertheless, on both releases, they play a melodic approach to raw black metal and it's quite fun. The riffs, fast and furious, are natural and in the front of the production burying the vocals. The two songs on the split are somewhat more punky, definitely not as much as Nuclear Hellfrost's tracks of course, but you can feel a crust tendency especially in the way it's produced. A very good band overall, I'm interested to hear what they'll do next.
Two good bands complementing eachothers very well is what we have here. A punkier and thrashier band on one side and a riff hungry fast paced unorthodox black metal band on the other. Recommended for black fans who like things to be different.
Listen and download the split for free on their bandcamps.
Tetragrammaton's Bandcamp
Tetragrammaton's Facebook
Nuclear Hellfrost's Bandcamp
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