Bass how low can you go? Well the two bands on this split are investigating bottom end rumbling and have dispensed of guitars completely. Opting for two six-stringers in both their line-ups, this is suited to both their narratives with Italian based Thecodontion having an interest in structure formations of the earth and the development of land masses as well as palaeontology whilst Ceremented from the USA turn attention to cataclysm via nature’s destructive forces.
It was The Permian-Triassic Extinction Event we last got a lesson in from Thecodontion and on their side of this split they have written a couple of songs about prehistoric marine arthropods and why not; Trilobites need love too. It’s them for the first track and I am sure you have a picture of their fossils in your head and remember them for their hard exoskeleton covering. If not, well you can’t have been paying attention in class and only have yourself to blame. They are represented by a jaunty and rattling bass groove and some vocal growls and rasps. Going down a bit of a different route from what we have heard previously the band have also employed Stefano Allegretti as keyboard session player here to fill in the gaps between. Lyrics have been published and you can easily fill in your knowledge here if you so wish. “Arachnomorph, Schizoramia subphylum benthic predator and filter feeder scavenger, plankton eating swimmer symbiotic with sulfurophagous bacteria” Well the band certainly know their stuff better than I could explain and seem to do for the subject matter what bands like Carcass do with a medical dictionary. As for the song the jangling nature gets right in your head. Moving onto the spiny worm like ‘Hallucigenia’ obviously one wonders what would have happened if anything actually licked them. The song plods perhaps like the strangely shaped creature suggests. Musically the slower, ponderous pace gives things a progressive flow and it’s all a little on the mysterious side. For their last offering the group go down a very different path with a cover song ‘La Torre’ originally done by Franco Battiato. I’m none the wiser either, apart from thinking it was not an original on 1st hearing. It kind of shows our somewhat serious professors have a sense of fun about them. Unfortunately, what may well be a much loved Italian staple pop-song is pretty ghastly for anyone else tuning in.
Ceremented appear to be still on the demo, split format stage and have yet to release their debut full-lengther. After setting their part up with a rumbling seismic instrumental piece they drop us into a much deathlier affair with ‘Ultra Mystischizmatic Terrors.’ Sounding a bit like a bouncy spring having uncoiled this is of a much more primitive nature. Drums make a suitable boshing sound, melody is lurching and abrasive and vocals are low and stygian, although seem happy to cackle at the cataclysmic subject matter. ‘Timeworn Furtherance’ illustrates that it is the doomy side of death that we are cemented in here. There’s some impressive gurgles to go with the slow instrumental apocalypse although a sudden burst of speed injects a bit of chaos into things too. This is suitably ugly stuff and last song ‘Disease.Death.Kontrol (Contravene of Death’s Hand)’ spreads like a plague on humanity, its 7 minute running time as obtuse as song title.
This split release strikes as a bit of a curio. There’s no reason why a listener wouldn’t like both approaches stylistically but apart from that and the fact that both acts feature no guitars, they make somewhat curious bedfellows. Not a bad way to spend half an hour I guess but the appeal here is certainly a niche one.
(6/10 Pete Woods)
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