You really thought that, after three splits and as many singles and albums (plus a compilation of all those random tracks) in ten years, MORDBRAND would start to slow things down, didn't you? You fool! They're about to once again renew their collaboration with DOOMENTIA, which got kickstarted with the Unmake EP in April 2013, with another slab of their very own crusty-yet-twisted brand of Swedish death metal, but this time sharing the wax with the GRAVEHILL boys from Los Angeles, California.
Business as usual, then? Nah, no quite. Conceived as stand-alone EPs, each with their own cover artwork and title, each side marks a new step in both bands' (d)evolution. While still raging, MORDBRAND's half - dubbed In Nighted Waters, on side B, and featuring spooky T. Ketola artwork - has a newly acquired creepy/subdued vibe, as suggested by the atmospheric layers of keyboards that engulf opener "Decimation Reigns." As a special treat to both longtime obscure DM fans and those who acquire this split, they've also recorded their own, rearranged version of Bluuurgh's "Compost Christ" (from their 1990 Suffer Within EP) with former GRAVEHILL frontman Mike Abominator on backing vocals.
As for GRAVEHILL, who begin the record on side A, Skullbearer is kinda a new start for them. Fear not, though: their OTT blackthrash is as relentless as ever, but since their great Death Curse album in 2014, there's been a few changes in their camp, with a new lead guitarist in tow and the aforementioned Mike Abominator having handed the microphone to their bass-player Corpse, who, in turn, got replaced on the four strings by their former guitarist Bodybag Bob (are you still with us?!). But since their founding member Thorgrimm is still cracking the whip, you can be sure they've lost none of their intensity. And those four new tracks (plus a faithful-yet-vicious cover of Bathory's "Sacrifice") will remind everybody they're still the most METAL band on the whole West Coast. Hail and kill!
