Year: 2025
Label: Handful of Hate
Rating: 9,3 / 10
There is so much to say about this, undoubtedly, the most important release for the local scene that I don't even know where to start. First of all, I would like to note that, despite my closeness to and causality to the common cause, I did not take any part in the creation of this split, did not see the designs and did not hear a single track (except for the instrumental drafts of ŁATANU that Nihilation played to me in the fall of 2020 on his phone) until I received the CD in my hands. Perhaps it was necessary to get involved in this process, but more on that later. Anyway, my perception was as pure as that of a common listener.
"Sixfold Kryvian Blasphemy” was not originally a “six-man show”. As far as I know, it all started with the idea of ŁATANU / VERWÜSTUNG split, but at about the same time, the material for the split of KRUK / PESTILENTIA was recorded. In the process, it turned out that court sound engineer G.W. has a conceptual material for his brainchild SACRILEGIOUS PROFANITY, and then ACWEALD came into the fold, too. The well-known tragedies of the recent years have led to the participants being scattered across different countries. Due to this, the release of new material was delayed, and in the end it was decided to make a grandiose split / manifesto of Niemaracz Clan. Curiosly, at the very last moment, certain events occurred, as a result of which the Niemaracz Clan, with all the heavy burden of its past, was sent to rest, and its active part reformed into an unnamed community around the label Handful of Hate. Thus, "Sixfold Kryvian Blasphemy" turned into both an epitaph and manifesto, but at the same time into a symbol of a New Beginning.
ŁATANU
Already back in the days of the first NIEZGAL demo, P.Z. had a certain penchant for writing Black Metal anthems that inspire to storm the heavens under the banner of Satan ("The earth trembles from the thread of our Legions!"). The best songs by NIEZGAL and ŁATANU have always been anthems, and on this split, all three tracks have exactly this approach. A hymn to hell, a hymn to darkness and, most importantly, a hymn to gatekeeping! As always, the lyrics of ŁATANU are eloquent and meaningful, so don't even think about ignoring them. As a songwriter, P.Z. once again got better, creating an ideal interaction between numerous catchy riffs and of different tempos. I don't know how these three tracks would be perceived as part of a full-length album, but in this shorter format, they feel like the strongest ŁATANU material ever.
The sound doesn't leave much to be desired either. The band (except drums) recorded at a new location, the Sanctum Studio in Poland, where Aahros from the bands FLAMMAE and PETITE NUAGE NOIR works. He performed bass parts on these tracks. Vo1d of VICTIM PATH mixed and mastered the material. He had already worked with NIEZGAL, so the result is a familiar sound – sharp, deadly and clean.
ACWEALD
I haven't written about ACWEALD yet, but I did write about its predecessor – PINEBLOOD. ACWEALD is the project of Bauglir, the founder of BONEHAMMER. As in PINEBLOOD, here he addresses his punk roots through a metallic sound and worship of nature. ACWEALD can be called a bastard child of ILDJARN and early ULVER, who was raised on the best traditions of Finnish daredevilism. Everything here is very simple and assertive, but also romantic. There is a place for both blasting and acoustics. “Pad Kapyty!" even has a very accurate whistle and gang vocals! The two new ACWEALD tracks differ from the previous ones in that they are the band's first Belarusian-language material (not counting the MISFITS cover from the album “Archaic”). W.W. (also a former BONEHAMMER member) and D. (most likely, Daemethar from VOX MORTUIS) helped Bauglir with the recording. The sound is a bit messy, with the abundance of high frequencies, and the cymbals merge into a solid noise, but punks don't give a fuck! It's listenable, and it's cool.
SACRILEGIOUS PROFANITY
Goat Worshiper's main project has always seemed to me the epitome of tradition first and only then expressiveness. Throughout its rather small discography, SACRILEGIOUS PROFANITY performed in all major styles of Black Metal at the same time (especially on the album “Genocide Rituals"), and each time it was something very dynamic, apocalyptic and not at all “square-formed". However, there is a downside to this peculiarity: with all the desire, it is very difficult to keep at least one whole track of SACRILEGIOUS PROFANITY in memory. It seems that everything has finally changed on this split. The three tracks of SP are united by the Lovecraftian / Satanic lyrical concept of the awakening of ancient deep-sea creatures, and the music supports this concept for the most part. The very first piece of music provides a complete sinking into the dark green waters of the swirling sea. The song "Eternal Thirst of the Old Ones" reeks of antiquity and mysteries of the swamp abyss. I even felt bad a little, when in the very next song, Leviathan's servants began to get out onto dry land to arrange an apocalyptic feast under to the roar of frenzied blast beats. In the mid- and low tempo, and with the atmospheric and voluminous sound chosen for this split, and with painfully melodic lead guitars, SACRILEGIOUS PROFANITY sounds like a gorgeous ode to Lovecraft. Fast fragments and transitions destroy the magic a bit, although the climactic track "Uncontrollable Deluge Force (Leviathan)" still retains the feeling. Anyway, we've just heard the most solid material in the entire history of SACRILEGIOUS PROFANITY. G.W. himself, his friend and bandmate T.D., as well as Great Vengeance and Furious Anger, aka Jauhien Ignatau, the drummer of PESTILENTIA, were responsible for its recording.
KRUK
In every sense the central material of this split turned out to be a little more modest than we would have liked. There are only two tracks, and only one is completely original, as the second one is a cover of IMMORTAL's ”Sun no longer rises", which is quite unexpected. "Śmiertakrył II” has several intersections with the “original", and I have a cautious assumption that this track was actually created back in those old days as an alternative version with vocals. By the way, Eucharist from PESTILENTIA sings on it. Anyway, it sounds like KRUK: extremely tough, with riffs that look like they were chopped with an axe, non-standard sizes, and a drum part that sounds like two simultaneous parts. "Sonca nie sonzyhodziċ" (a cover of IMMORTAL) is also reworked to match this style. The original was smoother, but the cover overshadows it with huge balls. I would especially like to note the creative adaptation of the lyrics by Ryks Asirg; the early texts of IMMORTAL were written in terrible English and often did not make sense, but everything is clear here. The main conclusion that I can draw after getting acquainted with these two songs is the following: KRUK sound fantastically in the modern sound. It's a merciless explosive power. It is very sad that this will probably be the end of it, because the anhedonistic nature of one of the participants stopped the raven's flight.
VERWÜSTUNG
The VERWÜSTUNG assault unit has suffered the greatest losses over the years, but it has withstood, gained strength and is currently gradually preparing new attacks. VERWÜSTUNG also recorded two songs for the split - one original and one Belarusian-language cover (of LEGION OF THE DAMNED). "Barani Boža" isn't the fastest by the band's standards, but it has a flow. My main complaint against VERWÜSTUNG has always been that they overused abrupt stops, even rhythm fractures. It works great live, but on a studio record it feels like a punch that came out of the blue. This is not the case here. There is a dynamic in "Barani Boža", but it is more careful and reasonable. As for "Lehijon Vyklatych", it is a very simple track that gradually accelerates and develops strictly in one direction. One hundred percent modern Death/ Thrash Metal in everything, except the vocals. I listened to the original for the first time while writing this fragment of the review, and I have to say that VERWÜSTUNG did not change anything in the music, but significantly increased the degree of aggression and raw heaviness. The insane vocals of M82A1 are head and shoulders above the pizza-thrash screeches that vocalist of LotD uses. Anyway, both tracks demonstrate the main feature of VERWÜSTUNG: no matter how fast they play, their songs will be bursting with energy. Not so long ago, I attended a band rehearsal and I want to say that not every construction worker or hammer thrower sheds as much sweat during a working day as VERWÜSTUNG do during the relaxed practice session. Again, I can't forget about the lyrics. M82A1 has excellent command of the word, has long served as a translator and transliterator for the community around Niemaracz Clan / Handful of Hate, so his own lyrics and adaptations are not subject to any criticism. This is a level unattainable for most. The sound on the new material also turned out to be decent, sincere, strong and cocky in a good way - something that I lacked on the slightly smoothedGospel ov fury". Everything was recorded piece by piece in different places, and A.K. of LEPROUS VORTEX SUN mixed and mastered it.
PESTILENTIA
The three tracks from PESTILENTIA offer the most diverse material in terms of sound. The booklet for the split says that almost everything was recorded in 2020 at Niemaracz Den, but it probably happened at different times. "Viatry Čornaha Moru" (PESTILENTIA's first studio recording in Belarusian!) has a very simple structure and such a furious speed that you can barely keep your hat on. It has a rather uncharacteristic sound for PESTILENTIA: very vinyl-like, almost devoid of any sharp edges, voluminous, with vocals pushed back somewhere deep. The main vocal line is also very fast and has an unusual rhythm, so the song instantly sticks in the memory. I'll even say that it's my favorite PESTILENTIA song by far. There's something special about it. "Crushing The Saint" immediately gives a thrashy flavor and shows classic PESTILENTIA songwriting. The rhythm changes several times more often here, and the vocals are completely obsessed (and also pushed back into the mix). For some reason, this thing is a little louder than the previous one. The finale for PESTILENTIA and the entire split is a Belarusian-language cover of the eternal cult: ”Woman of Dark Desires" of BATHORY. The vocals for it were recorded by Ryks Asirg not just anywhere, but on the banks of the Dnieper river. Obviously, in order to properly combine his angry screams with instrumental material, G.W. increased the loudness for almost two times. “Taja szto ŭ ciemry žadańnjaŭ” sounds explosive and even a little off the scale, so it resembles KRUK. There was another guest on this track, Varagian from ДО СКОНУ, who played a guitar solo. PESTILENTIA's material was recorded with a slightly unusual line-up: Jauhien Ignatau, who played on the previous two albums, did not participate in it, but already mentioned W.W. (ACWEALD, ex-BONEHAMMER, VIEDZMINY PAKUTY) joined as a guitarist.
THE ART OF VAIUG
Art works for "Sixfold Kryvian Blasphemy" were performed by Vaiug. He draws all kinds of horrible stuff, and with each year his portfolio is gradually replenished with the names of new clients from the music scene, but this split finally shows his real might. Each group received a separate illustration that embodies its essence, and the cover combines everything at the same time. The technical side of the design also does not disappoint, because everything is carefully selected: fonts, 50 shades of gray and even an ornamental motif on the background of the cover. "Sixfold Kryvian Blasphemy" was released in a strong A5 digibook format with a 24-page booklet. Details on a video.
Finally we got to the output. This release turned out to be almost flawless. And very important. It should not be skipped in any case. The word "split", which I have used many times in the review, is a bit pejorative for it, as it can cause incorrect associations. It didn't come out to offer some nibbles that couldn't be stuffed anywhere else. No, this collaboration includes material that can compete on equal terms with everything that each of the 6 bands has recorded so far. There are practically no disadvantages here, just a few little things regarding the design and lyrics: umlaut disappeared in one place, the name of one track was misspelled in the other two, and I also didn't understand why it was necessary to break the tongue on "Lizabeth Ba-tho-ryyy-aaa" in BATHORY cover, since it was more easy and more correct from the point of view of Belarusian grammar to sing "Alžbeta Batoria". But these are things that few people will notice. You can order this CD at Possession.
