For those of you who witnessed the flyers for the 'Upheaval of Blasphemy' 7", you will probably remember that it mentioned something about 'much superior sound quality compared to the split with Japanese horde Necrophile'. Or at least something like that. Obviously that was true, since 'Upheaval of Blasphemy' had great sound quality, while this split suffers from a muffled and confused production. Never mind that though, since production has never gotten in the way of unholy and sick death metal!

Listening to an Abhorer track like "Diabolic Epitaph" or "Repudiated Fate", with their pounding drums, crunching guitars, and truly twisted vocals makes me feel at ease. Twisted and confusing riffs that create an atmosphere of sheer brutality are Abhorer's trademark, and they are in abundance here. This is sheer fucking violence! Abhorer were an overlooked band in terms of creating powerful death/thrash/black metal, and that's an absolute insult to their genius.

Necrophile on the other hand were a band that never went anywhere. Some would probably wonder why, since they were a brutal and FAST band years ahead of themselves. Listen to "Night of the Gloomy Narcist" for example: pounding drums, vocals that literally outdo Abhorer in terms of insanity, and those thick, morbid riffs. The vocalist is obviously possessed by demons, and rightfully years ahead of his time in terms of style! Necrophile are technical and disgusting black/thrash metal, and truly powerful at that!

A beautiful split LP of unholy metal. It just isn't done like this anymore, which is strange I guess. I would personally respect any label with the balls to re-master and then press this onto CD, since it contains a load of impressive and violent tracks.

© 1998 brand