SPLIT REVIEW: Astriferous / Bloodsoaked Necrovoid

Costa Rican Death-Doom might be unfamiliar to some but both ASTRIFEROUS and BLOODSOASKED NECROVOID have unleashed some truly morbid material, now they join forces to bring a new split of sonic despair. Out via Seed Of Doom Records.

ASTRIFEROUS start things off with hammering drums and gurgling bass that ruptures the spleen as venomous guitars erupt with a chasm of vitriolic, atmospheric and charnel extremity that certainly sets things off with a bang. The snarling vocals add a fetid touch to the swampy instrumentals, delving into an abyssal and otherworldly state of Death Metal entrancement. The way the guitars and drums lurch like some kind of festering life form is magical, with the clunky and loose bass strings catching the low end and driving it through the roof gloriously. The slower sections add a sepulchral melancholy while sticking to the odiously dismal darkness like tar. Pungent and smouldering with filth, Astriferous; new offering is a triumphant cut of cosmic rottenness that certainly lives up to my expectations of this obscure entity.

BLOODSOAKED NECROVOID continue in the opening of chasms with a groaning doomy riff atop some absolutely phenomenal drum work. This time, the vocals have a more ghastly, almost ethereal feel to them. The abominable soundscapes here are slower, focusing more on atmospherics but with plenty of ferociously diabolical musicianship to deliver truly punishing, claustrophobic and obliterating music. The bestial latter sections ramp up the extremity to finalise the split with a brutality that is remorselessly enjoyable and transitions from the depths into the outer layers sound a precision and barbarity that must be witnessed.

Grotesque, inhuman ichor in Death Metal form. This split is a magnificent offering of vile, unearthly splendour that feels like two sides of the same coin, a symbiosis in cosmic filth. Both bands complement, rather than compete, with the other to conjure a spectral apparition of dastardly Death Metal supremacy. A must listen for all morbid maniacs who seek pulverising Death Metal coupled with splendidly cadaverous doom tinges.