This split EP, which is actually a full 45 minutes long sees the return of two underground UK acts who are intertwined on the same family tree with branches further enveloping the infamous Meads Of Asphodel. Ebonillumini have been somewhat quiet since they brought out the beguiling ‘Ebon Channel’ EP back in 2008 a disc whose avant-garde blackness conjured great mystery and imagination. Here we have a four track offering named Estuarine which we are told was created to showcase their new sound and act as a precursor to their debut album planned for later in the year. It’s a slightly different tale for Worms Of Sabnock though and their part labelled ‘Grand Religious Finale’ sees them finally follow up their 2006 album ‘Dark Harmonies.’ Alas as the title portends it is to be their swansong as they have announced they will be taking an undetermined hiatus now.
Ebonillumini are a rather odd duo who take on the personas of The Monk and The Maiden of The Ralik Chain and their tracks see them on a continued exploration of the atoll of The Marshall Islands (seriously barking stuff). Their voyage takes us through ‘Danger, Water, Land and Air’ as the descriptive track titles unfold. At first the music is gentle and breezes around The Maiden Christina Poupoutsi’s graceful and witchy vocals. Black swaggering bombasts are not far behind this and the Monk aka J.D. Tait is on hand to rasp away on these parts along with the more strident tones of The Maiden. There are some reference points you could glean from all this from the Gothic mid era phase of Siouxsie through to the current arcane 70’s retro worshiping bands such as The Devil’s Blood. I particularly like one section that sounds like a strange sorcery ritual performed in a deep dark cave. It is both mystical, magickal and ritualistic and adds a sense of intrigue to the whole section along with a dash of saxophone leading into the next part. Apparently the duo have discovered an acolyte and will now be a trio and will re-record the programmed drum parts with Norwegian sticks man The Mantodea for the forthcoming full length album destined for later in the year. On the strength of this it’s going to be an album to look forward to.
Onto The Worms Of Sabnock and this material was recorded between 2007-2009 by Quintus (J.D. Tait again) and drummer Moros. Joining them as guests were Elle Torre and Hal ‘Interlock & Talanas’ Sinden. After an intro piece that one would expect from The Meads, ‘Nature’s Whore’ batters in with a much more ferocious vibe than we got from the preceding band. The vocals are thick and heavily rasping and the guitars are fast and furious. The whole thing belts along accompanied by wind and brass instruments courtesy of Elle. There is a sudden psychedelic shift which sees everything going very weird in a mushroom sense and it makes the band sound like a black metal squat project with the progressive and trippy flair of groups like The O’Roonies, Webcore and Ozric Tentacles. It is all unhinged and quite delirious stuff as well as infectious as the rampant burgeoning melody really gets beneath the skin. Topping it all off we get a grandiose over the top vocal croon reminiscent of the likes of Arcturus soaring over the top. My disc did not have divisions on it but was listed as one whole track so it is difficult to differentiate between them all. However I can say that these worms are no slow crawlers and this goes like the clappers from beginning to end, never standing still for a second. The Worms material does have a slight edge too due to the sharper and fuller production of the two bands and it is a shame that they did not realise their full potential live and are seemingly disappearing back into obscurity.
If you are an outsider looking in it is a bit easy to get the impression that UK black metal is a pretty uninspiring beast with not a huge wealth of ideas to say about itself. These two acts prove otherwise and sit right on the fringes acting as mad dogs and Englishmen (and women) at odds with what you might expect. Both are certainly worthy of your attention.
(7/10 Both Bands Pete Woods)
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