If you scour the internet as I do looking for obscure stuff back in dungeons of the late 80s and 90s then you have probably come across many split releases in extreme metal, many of which are absolutely brilliant and now extremely difficult to get hold of unless a reissue appears. The statement of intent the title of this three way split has foreshadows what’s to come, but as we all know death metal has created multiple different sounds on multiple continents over the years, which I don’t really need to explain here as you should already be aware. Making a declaration such as this split’s title has to live up to its name or it just becomes marketing ploy to try and sell it whether it is actually like old school death metal or not, but thankfully I can testify that the statement is indeed true to its core.

First up are Finnish brutalists Wrathrone, a band whose last full length ‘Eve Of Infliction’ I reviewed for the website back in 2021 and was extremely complimentary about it. Their three tracks on offer here begin with ‘To The Pillar’s Shadow’ as their clean cut, but truly abrasive guitar work cuts deep gouging chasms into the listener. Noticeably I felt the vocal style was like Frank Mullen (ex-Suffocation) with a cavernously deep tone surrounding tracks that owe plenty to the Swedeath genre of old school deathliness. There’s even a touch of melodic death metal here too, very subtle I must add, in the way their opener has intrinsic melody and continues into ‘Vermin Womb’ whose title I love by the way. I can visualise a piece of gruesome artwork depicting that title on a shirt. As ‘Vermin Womb’ ploughs into your head you get the feeling the band likes every continental death metal style there is, and even a few specific countries as the song shifts from a Scandinavian styling to a more US/UK hybrid. I say this because the song plunges headlong into a miasmic doom-death phase, slowing down hugely to unveil menacing tension that continues into their closing tune ‘Survive The Collapse’. You’ll notice immediately that the riff here has an Obituary style, grooving mayhem with a chainsaw guitar sound gutting the listener, as it unleashes a fine lead break that is distinctively different to how the track started. A fine contribution from Wrathrone here.

Next up are Italian band Spiral Wounds, another band whose last album I reviewed for the website and was titled ‘Shadows’. The bands old school credentials measure up nicely here, their four tune bombardment beginning with ‘Dying In Solitude’, which some of you will immediately say was a song on their debut EP, indeed it was, as it appears that EP has contributed their four songs to this split, which I must say feels like being short changed as the versions on the EP seem to be exactly the same as the ones on the split. However there’s no denying the bands old school identity as the sound here is markedly different to that of Wrathrone, as this bunch prefer a melodic death metal foundation with a mix of harsh and deep vocals. When the vocals dip into purer disembowelling bellows the results are excellent as ‘Steps Across’ shows and links in nicely with ‘Uber Feral Winds’ where more melodic riffing gives the split a tuneful approach. I would say the vocals are the most extreme aspect about Spiral Wounds songs, they sit slightly astride of the inherent melody of their songs as their contribution concludes with ‘The Spire’. Here the band utilises a morose almost doom-death opening, the harsh vocals possessing a slight blackening to enhance the tracks causticity and rounding off their songs very well indeed.

Finland’s Necrodium are completely new to me, but after hearing their four song demolition I will be investigating further. The band has a handful of demos, a full length and a previous split already as here their tracks begin with ‘Carnal Addiction’. This band are by far the most brutal on the split, their sonic carnage is savagely delivered, with the vocals of Linda Alén being particularly hideous. Like the previous two bands Necrodium offer a very different take on old school death metal, they favour a harsher more acerbic deathrash style, particularly on the opener with its veritable intense onslaught. ‘Compulsive Mutilating Disorder’ continues their insidiousness, the track detonating with a double kick blast beat to really pulverise the listener. Like many old school death metal bands the use of a chainsaw guitar sound is nothing new, but when Finnish bands do it, there is something utterly terrorizing about it as the grisly monstrousness of ‘Modern Crucifixion’ shows. The pacing on their tracks is excellent, slightly hypnotic due to its unerring power as they end this split with ‘Violent Bludgeonings’. You’ve probably already decided what this song is like, and you’d be right, incessant brutality showing no signs of easing up even when they insert varying tempo dynamics, but it is the twisted and disturbing guitar hook that is embedded I really liked about this song, ensuring you are left with indelible sonic scars after listening to their songs.

A fine split album, presented as a digipak if you decide to buy the physical product, with three distinctive yet punishingly effective old school death metal bands to sink your teeth into.

(8.5/10 Martin Harris)

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wrathrone/128602290558843

https://facebook.com/Spiral-Wounds-102291662205353

https://www.facebook.com/NecrodiumOfficial

https://greatdanerecords.bandcamp.com/album/back-to-90-s-old-school-death-metal