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HADES ARCHER / SLAUGHTBBATH
Circus Of Abominations / Antichristos Thanatos (Split LP)

Iron Bonehead Productions (2014)
Rating: 7.5/10

Split LPs have never really been my thing to be honest, having always preferred bands to either go for a full-length or just snip down to an EP. Even so, sometimes a split album allows us to be introduced to bands we have not heard before, and that’s the case with this hostile little record.

Hades Archer and Slaughtbbath are Chilean extreme metal bands, the former having been around since 2005 with the latter being a slightly older band, forming in 2002. Of the two, Slaughtbbath have been the busiest, releasing several demos, splits, EPs and one full-length opus (Hail To Fire) in 2013. Hades Archer has released two full-length albums, however, namely 2011’s For The Diabolical Ages and 2012’s The Curse Over Mankind.

On this eight-track split project, Hades Archer chip in with five of the tracks, those being ‘The Pyre’, ‘The Hell Explodes On Earth’, ‘Tempest’, ‘Portals’ and ‘The Ascention’, while Slaughtbbath offer ‘The Grand Dialogue’, ‘Mortal Paradigma’ and ‘Black Revelation Of Death’. Of the two acts, it’s Slaughtbbath I’m immediately drawn to with their ungodly old school death metal racket.

‘The Grand Dialogue’ has a real stuffy, evil feel to it with the rasping sneers of SelfDesecrator, who evokes images of all manner of old, satanically influenced black thrash acts such as Bathory and Possessed as well as taking influence from Morbid Angel, Death et al. Modern grisly bands such as Conqueror and Black Witchery also spring to mind as the drums flash by like a hail of bullets, and the solos flail wildly as if the Devil’s minions were scurrying about, busying themselves for another night of sacrifice.

‘Black Revelation Of Death’ is another noteworthy slice of the wicked, hinting at very old Sepultura. I’ve always had a thing for old school South American thrash and death metal, so these three tracks are right up my alley. While fast throughout, the trio from San Vicente de Tagua Tagua have an accessible, punky nature about their holocaustic vision, but this is not metal for the faint-hearted.

Hades Archer is a devilish duo, meanwhile, consisting of Nabucodonosor III (vocals, guitar, bass) and Skullcrusherhammer (drums). These guys aren’t as heavy as Slaughtbbath, but they are still as vile and fast. There is a tinnier element to their sound, with the drums clattering with perversion and the vocals being less decipherable and gruff. The tracks, however, especially ‘The Pyre’, act like a short, sharp stab in the back, while ‘The Ascention’ is even shorter. Running at just 60 or so seconds, ‘The Ascention’ is a noisefest of splattering vocals and manic guitars until its demonic outro. ‘Portals’ offers further punky clamour and billows like a Deicide-cum-black thrash attack, also running for just over a minute.

Indeed, this split EP is a hectic affair, but it’s great at giving us an insight into two cult acts. I’d certainly recommend the studio albums by these bands, proof that the South American metal underground is still as evil as ever.

Neil Arnold

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