Year: 2023
Label: Darker Than Black Records
Rating: 8,3 / 10
This release was very much delayed, and I, to tell you the truth, was afraid that it would never be released at all. I saw the cover (created, by the way, by brilliant Tern) for the first time a long, long time ago. So I am very glad that this split has finally appeared in this world.
I was waiting for this split first and foremost because of LIK. This project has always been interesting, but after the spirit of the white man awoke in Graav, he seemed to have received a new source of inspiration. "Avgrundspoetens flamma" (2020) rejected most of what united LIK with ARMAGEDDA and LÖNNDOM, and crystallized only what distinguished LIK from everything else, namely the unique warm rocking sound in Black Metal structures and a special melancholic mood. The material on split also works in this updated direction. The songs may be less "hit" than, for example, “Svartkonst” or “Helgedomens dödsportar", but they are very atmospheric. Compared to the previous album, the sound has changed. The rhythm section is now very weighty, and the bass in it sounds twice as loud and clearer than the guitar. In general, these are wonderful songs that make you think and touch your soul.
MØRKT TRE (where, let me remind you, a member of the live line-up of PRAGNAVIT plays) never really hooked me. The band is good, but it has this characteristic negative sound, which I usually don't like. The first album strongly resembled ДО СКОНУ (not accidentaly, since Varagian wrote the lyrics for it), and subsequent releases seemed a bit too bizarre to me. Therefore, at this split, MØRKT TRE surprised me very pleasantly. Maybe it's the smaller amount of material, or maybe the songs are actually different from the previous stuff, but both turned out to be the most powerful. “Танок Стихій” is a 10 minute giant, which has everything you need: several sections different in mood and tempo, a layered cake of almost progressive parts and, importantly, the gradual development of the composition, which, through an interlude, leads to a dramatic climax that can compete, believe it or not, with the works of NOKTURNAL MORTUM on their greatest album "The Voice of Steel". The second track from Ukrainians is a cover of LIK's "Viterskog", and only good things can be said about it, too. The band, with the help of new elements, gave the song additional dimensions, while being very thorough in preserving the original idea. This is the case when the cover turned out to be maybe no better than the original, but not worse either.
As a result, we have a great split, which was really worth expecting. So far, the release is vinyl only, but I hope the CD will also come out very soon and will reach our concentration camp of a country. Let's add that LIK is currently preparing a new album, and MØRKT TRE has already released their fresh full-length a little over a month ago.
English (UK) 
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