Review by Felix on March 6, 2021.

I am seeking for The Stone's full-length from the year 2007 (Неке Ране Крваре Вечно) for several months, but every mail order fails to deliver this seemingly attractive album. Fortunately, the world is full of placebos, just think of rubber dolls or tofu sausages. Therefore, I decided to buy this split 7" in order to relieve the pain. And even if I am not familiar with inflatable sex partners or vegetarian hot dogs, I dare to say that this vinyl is a good substitute for the untraceable album.

The guys from the Serbian underground present a coherent number with an erratic main riff and mighty breaks that do not damage its flow. 'Antiutopija' heralds the ideology of honest black metal in a mid-harsh manner. Its clearly defined sound is perhaps a problem for some oh so trve pvrists who sit in their children's room and play computer games, but everybody else will enjoy the high pressure of the mix. It contributes to the fact that the lively track is constantly in motion. As a result, the guys avoid any kind of boring sequences successfully. If this double bass driven piece indicates the average strength of their compositions, I have to take a deep dive into the discography of The Stone.

I do not really know the full-lengths of Isvind that they have released since their comeback, but their early works did not fully convince me. Nevertheless, their song for this Norwegian-Serbian collaboration stands up to the critical scrutiny of sceptical guys like me. Its almost hypnotizing guitars contrast with the rumbling drums and the malicious vocals, before the cleverly designed piece attacks in a more furious way. Without stylistic experiments and in accordance with The Stone, the Scandinavians respect the tried and tested agenda of black metal. The tempo changes are not an end in itself, they create a gripping flow. Only the brief solo confuses me a little bit, but it also does not hurt the quality of 'Opplagt Krass'.

The collaboration makes sense in view of the very similar approach of both bands. I cannot identify significant differences in terms of anger, complexity and atmosphere. Norway and Serbia march shoulder to shoulder and, to cap it all, both songs also benefit from a suitable production. Thus, this split unites the motherland of the second wave with a still underdeveloped country in a successful manner. With that said, I keep on looking for Неке Ране Крваре Вечно.

Rating: 7.8 out of 10

Review by Alex on January 15, 2020.

Overwhelmingly loud and pressuring, a sense scorcher, atmospheric doom metal band The Osedax have launched their third full length mammoth of a record, "Meridians". Formed in 2008 with only 2 albums prior to this, the band has stood somewhere lost within the explosion of the post metal scene due to the uncontrollable amount of material being spawned under its moniker. Personally, I hate the sub-genre; however, The Osedax's music is digestible compared to the multitudes of mess associated with the musical format. The fact they have only 3 full-length albums since being formed tells of their sound judgment, which is reflected through the 4 songs heard on "Meridians".

The music here is vast, obliterating and expansive; the doom metal passages matched with a weighty atmosphere via the use of keyboard synth, resonating guitars and more so the vocal attitude being so abrasive makes "Meridians" a congesting, violent and calm record from beginning to end. It evokes a false sense of time for its 45 minute run-time, has a serious fluctuation of crescendo and strikes at the gut with drum motions being so clobbering. Almost misjudged and left to wander the piles of promos but sometimes following your instincts plays out in your favor and this is one of those times. Imagine a castle built of solid stone, erected and left to endure the punishing hand of nature itself, with each new season, the decomposition becomes more evident as the walls of the towering landmark begin to erode and crumble. That's how you feel when listening to "Meridians", at first a thing of strength and stamina pulsing but with each new wave of affliction, only to soon be overshadowed, weakened and brought to your knees via the monstrous and omnipotent aura encompassing and ever-looming.

'Often', and 'Beacon/Ox Eye', channel strong surges of guitar power chords and progressions, while the vocals and drums (respectively) of Scott Coldwell, Mike and Horn Kevin Grevey act like a sledgehammers delivering the defining blow following the weakening overcast of the synth and bass. They're not just heavy but display a controlled flow between climaxing and meditative moments. Following 'White Horse/Tempest' that lands a power-slam of soundscapes to baffle the listener, all of that voluminous immensity is brought to a humbling of sorts through the serene almost reverie-esque, yet foreboding 'Ratlines', going for more of an instrumental atmospherically unsettling (at times) approach, thus masking the violent nature of past entries with more of an eerie outlook yet being parallel and effective in conjunction and coordination with "Meridians" as a whole.

What this album does is show differentiation yet succinct connection to a particular theme; never straying, always keeping a level head through destructive and mayhemic yet soft and comforting compositions. If any band could set an example of how to mix post metal with atmospheric sludge and doom, The Osedax would most likely be one of those. Making this an even more exhilarating and accomplished outing is the fact 3 individuals created this sensational, sonic scourge of sagacity; as opposed to having an outfit of 5 or more musicians who instead just compose songs. The difference here is other bands just play and make music mostly forgettable on their albums; The Osedax with "Meridians" in stark contrast, is a journey through the earth and space, an event to the endless molecules of memory shaping fragmented images into polished landscapes.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Review by Alex on January 15, 2020.

Overwhelmingly loud and pressuring, a sense scorcher, atmospheric doom metal band The Osedax have launched their third full length mammoth of a record, "Meridians". Formed in 2008 with only 2 albums prior to this, the band has stood somewhere lost within the explosion of the post metal scene due to the uncontrollable amount of material being spawned under its moniker. Personally, I hate the sub-genre; however, The Osedax's music is digestible compared to the multitudes of mess associated with the musical format. The fact they have only 3 full-length albums since being formed tells of their sound judgment, which is reflected through the 4 songs heard on "Meridians".

The music here is vast, obliterating and expansive; the doom metal passages matched with a weighty atmosphere via the use of keyboard synth, resonating guitars and more so the vocal attitude being so abrasive makes "Meridians" a congesting, violent and calm record from beginning to end. It evokes a false sense of time for its 45 minute run-time, has a serious fluctuation of crescendo and strikes at the gut with drum motions being so clobbering. Almost misjudged and left to wander the piles of promos but sometimes following your instincts plays out in your favor and this is one of those times. Imagine a castle built of solid stone, erected and left to endure the punishing hand of nature itself, with each new season, the decomposition becomes more evident as the walls of the towering landmark begin to erode and crumble. That's how you feel when listening to "Meridians", at first a thing of strength and stamina pulsing but with each new wave of affliction, only to soon be overshadowed, weakened and brought to your knees via the monstrous and omnipotent aura encompassing and ever-looming.

'Often', and 'Beacon/Ox Eye', channel strong surges of guitar power chords and progressions, while the vocals and drums (respectively) of Scott Coldwell, Mike and Horn Kevin Grevey act like a sledgehammers delivering the defining blow following the weakening overcast of the synth and bass. They're not just heavy but display a controlled flow between climaxing and meditative moments. Following 'White Horse/Tempest' that lands a power-slam of soundscapes to baffle the listener, all of that voluminous immensity is brought to a humbling of sorts through the serene almost reverie-esque, yet foreboding 'Ratlines', going for more of an instrumental atmospherically unsettling (at times) approach, thus masking the violent nature of past entries with more of an eerie outlook yet being parallel and effective in conjunction and coordination with "Meridians" as a whole.

What this album does is show differentiation yet succinct connection to a particular theme; never straying, always keeping a level head through destructive and mayhemic yet soft and comforting compositions. If any band could set an example of how to mix post metal with atmospheric sludge and doom, The Osedax would most likely be one of those. Making this an even more exhilarating and accomplished outing is the fact 3 individuals created this sensational, sonic scourge of sagacity; as opposed to having an outfit of 5 or more musicians who instead just compose songs. The difference here is other bands just play and make music mostly forgettable on their albums; The Osedax with "Meridians" in stark contrast, is a journey through the earth and space, an event to the endless molecules of memory shaping fragmented images into polished landscapes.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Review by Jack on July 11, 2002.

Hailing from the glistening shores of Australia, you would be forgiven to think that Psychrist comes from anyone of the contemporary metal scenes in the Scandinavian parts of the world. Blasting through a mongrel composite of mincing black metal and pummeling death metal with more emphasis on the black metal side of the ledger “Debauching the Minions” is a worthy album to many a fan into the death or black metal scenes.

I had never heard any of Psychrist’s music prior to listening to their second album; “Debauching the Minions” I am embarrassed to admit to, (being that I am Australian and they are Australian and solid Australian metal is few and far and between today). While not being the most revolutionary metal breed ever, Psychrist do know how to go about shredding and dicing with the best metal outfits out there, the opening track ‘Scourge’ is a more than adequate example of the crossover capabilities on “Debauching the Minions” that Psychrist are capable of.

The ability of Psychrist to play black/death metal band is surely a nifty aspect of “Debauching the Minions”, but the real beauty of this release is that they are equally competent at both death metal and black metal. By that I mean, many black/death metal bands you usually find are weak in one aspect of their trade, while they may be strong (or weak) in the other side. Psychrist do not suffer this pitfall in the slightest. ‘Haven of Betrayal’ is pure holocaust casting black metal banshee wailing mayhem that any Darkthrone fan would get straight into, while the track ‘Depraved Humanity’ is more up fans of Belphegor’s alley. I believe the fantastic closer acoustic track; ‘Habouring the Fire’ is also noteworthy as it displays a more melodic/calmer side of Psychrist which will hopefully be explored in the future and give rise to an even more diverse behemoth of metal within and abroad of Australia.

Bottom Line: To wade through the superfluous usage of adjectives, Psychrist is very sound band who specialises in death/black metal. “Debauching the Minions” is not groundbreaking and nor does it seek to be. Recommended for death and black metal fans who seek alternative edges to the common norms they are presented with on a daily basis.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 7
Atmosphere: 7
Production: 8
Originality: 6
Overall: 8

Rating: 7.2 out of 10