Half Visible Presence / Monte Penumbra – Split (7″)

Monte Penumbra (Por) and Half Visible Presence (Hol) release a split album, with both bands contributing one single track. The Portuguese half of the split is a 7 minute track, containing ‘avant-garde doom black metal’. It’s as messy (not Messi) as it sounds, maybe they should make up their minds about the direction they want to go? The song starts with a doomy riff, and it does sound decent untill halfway, when some unnesecerry avant-garde blackish stuff is wrapped around it. It’s clear they like Arcturus, but are never even close to the level of that band. The Dutchman behind Half Visible Presence does a better job. Arvath has gained a lot of experience with bands like Israthoum and Perditor, which results in this very good Funeral Doom track. It summons a grisly, eerie atmosphere, too bad it’s only 6 minutes long. Very low-fi production, a true underground spirited band. (Marko)