The Temple of Cruel Empathy/Lunar Serpent” is a true tale of two halves. Both bands offering very different takes on Black Metal, however, the two seem to blend together seamlessly to make for one Hell of a split!
Opening up this exquisite split, is none other than The Negative Bias, with a powerful track that grips you with its dark and ominous vibe. A well blended track featuring several different techniques and styles mashed up into one great listening experience. The tracks flows between aggressive Black Metal attitude and slower and chilling symphonic and near melodic sections delivering great diversity to keep your attention. The vocals are performed exceptionally well, cycling between a clean haunting style and a rough more traditional style. There is a lot going on here, so sit back and enjoy!
“The Temple of Cruel Empathy/Lunar Serpent” wraps up with a vile offering from Golden Dawn. The track itself is a of a slower tempo, but keeps is cold and Nasty feel. Similar to the opening track, this one also gives us a twist and change of style throughout. The track runs from a more traditional sound with ghostly vocals before spilling into a trance-like borderline experimental section through the middle that features some soft spoken lyrics throughout, before turning back to the original sound to end the track. To sum this one up, it was a very interesting and fun split to listen to. For those that are constantly looking for something a bit different and away from the cookie cutter Black Metal stereotypes, this one’s for you. (Azag Galla)
