Bloodsoaked Visions / Strigoic Curse – Bloodsoaked Visions / Strigoic Curse [Split]

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Band(s): Bloodsoaked Visions, Strigoic Curse
Label(s): Self-Released
Release Format(s): Digital, Split
Release Year: 2024
Review Date: December 30, 2024
Author(s): FelixS

This digitally released split EP combines the music of two one-man bands, both of which have featured on these pages before. Before teaming up on this specific split EP, Bloodsoaked Visions from the UK released two rather short instrumental demos and Romanian Strigoic Curse has a bit more extensive discography and was featured with ‘A Feeble Vitriolic Presence’, the second full-length album. And, frankly, anyone who has listened to the previous recordings will hear the hand of the respective masters well reflected in what is presented here.

On the previous instrumental demos, Bloodsoaked Visions showed that there was potential in the composition and overall musical ideas. Yet, especially the second demo, that was twice as long as the 9-minute first feat, certainly did suffer from the lack of vocals. While instrumental (Black) Metal can work, it does usually lack a certain dimension. That is an “issue” that has been solved with these recordings, as these are the first songs with real vocals. Apart from the addition of vocals, the music has not really changed, meaning we get a serving of rough, gritty and at times slow/doomy Black Metal. The creativity brought by the dynamics (or vice versa) makes both songs and intro emerge as solid Raw Black Metal. Perhaps not very enervating and certainly not innovative, but the ideas are nicely developed and the result is well executed. Thereby, this kind of music works best in small portions, which Vithnagh, the man behind Bloodsoaked Visions, seems to have understood well, as again it stays comfortably under 10 minutes.

On ‘A Feeble Vitriolic Presence’, apart from a digital one-track single from early this year, Strigoic Curse’s last work, we got to know the Romanian band as a somewhat directionless vessel. While that album was not the first to appear under the Strigoic Curse name, it did symbolise how the band stands, or at least stood, in the genre. Now again, I wouldn’t exactly describe it as a loose cannon on deck, but perhaps we can best characterise the (rather short) album as one that consists mainly of some (very) good ideas and riffs, but where the structure and necessary glue is somewhat lacking. Perhaps that’s kind of what suits Strigoic Curse, because even within the three songs on this split, that sense of lack of cohesion surfaces. To a lighter degree, though, as the overarching sound does meander a little less in all directions, but once again not all songs seem to have been recorded in the same take. That has its charm, by the way, and definitely adds to the demo/rehearsal atmosphere. Something that is further highlighted by the much rougher production compared to ‘A Feeble Vitriolic Presence’, this creeps awfully close to the lo-fi productions of many of the bands that started popping up around ten years ago and had their heyday on labels like Skjold, Black Gangrene Productions and Perverse Homage. People who could take heart from the (sometimes only poorly listenable) raw recordings of the releases from that era and those labels will now be able to get that same heart beating faster again. What also helps are the good compositions displayed by Count Nezznar, the multi-instrumentalist who hides behind Strigoic Curse; a marked improvement over the previous and previously mentioned album from autumn 2023. Those who feel addressed I would recommend lending an ear to this band.

VM-UNDERGROUND

Extreme Metal Fanzine est. 2012

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