Double, double toil and trouble, fire burn and caldron bubble! Order of Nosferat and Lunar Spells have signed a mighty contract with Shadowrealm Incantations, a split album released via Northern Silence Productions. The former has contributed 5 tracks, the latter has 4, and neither band needs an introduction. Order of Nosferat deliver their unique cacophony of Vampiric Black Metal and Dungeon Synth while the Hellenic Lunar Spells showcase a rawer approach to their sound.
There is certainly no shortage of riffs and moody keyboard passages on the split and while both projects are equally impressing, I believe that Order of Nosferat takes the upper hand here – not that’s it’s a competition. There is something rather off about the Lunar Spells production. The guitars sometimes sound cut off and MIDI-like, especially when tremolo picking is involved. The track ‘Wounds of Forgotten Daylight’ is a good example of this. It’s rather distracting if you notice it, but doesn’t stop you from immersing yourself in the band’s music.
As for Order of Nosferat, the music is what you’d expect from them. The songs are great, but I still wouldn’t consider them to be on par with the music they released as full-lengths. There’s always that risk of bands ‘phoning it in’ for splits. That may have been the case here, as both projects have gone on to release excellent full-lengths afterwards.
That being said, the split flows smoothly and if you’re a fan of both bands, then it’s definitely something you would want to have as part of your collection. As for me, I’ll stick with the full-lengths from both bands.
