Capricornus / Der Stürmer "Polish-Hellenic Alliance Against Z.O.G.!" Split CD

Track 8 is dedicated to David Copeland.
Track 9 is a Schwarze Sonne cover - Lyrics by Dietrich Eckart.

Although I'm very fond of Capricornus's efforts with Graveland and Thor's Hammer, I have never been too enthusiastic about his own eponymous project. I guess the first problem was that I never really saw the point in his having two solo projects, particularly when the other one was so much better. I suppose that leads to the next complaint in regards to this matter: I always thought this solo effort was a little too rough around the edges. Now that his attention is more focused, however (precipitated by the "dissolution" of his other band, Thor's Hammer), I would say that this work represents the full emergence of Capricornus as a band-in-full rather than a mere "project."
To that end, Capricornus's half of "Polish-Hellenic Alliance Against ZOG" is as unambiguous and direct in terms of aesthetics as it is in its ideological message. The music itself brings to mind a combination of anthemic fist-pounding traditional metal in the vein of, say, Motörhead right along with a decidedly more extreme set of forebearers such as Tormentor or even some Bathory. The production is also very tight and very textured, which is a marked improvement (to say the least) over prior releases done under the Capricornus label. The end result is a competent and consistent musical outing that is every bit as militaristic as one might assume. The real problem, however, is that there is a very pervasive feeling of "hey, haven't I heard this before?" Sadly, the answer would seem to be "yes." While Capricornus has definitely come into his own as a musician, there is nothing truly innovative to be heard here. As a result, the Capricornus half of this split is highly satisfying, but really only in a somewhat narrow sense of the word.
Der Stürmer's contribution enjoys many of the same positive qualities as Capricornus's, but it also suffers from many of the same problems. Der Stürmer's sound is obviously different from Capricornus's, but at the same time it reminds me almost exactly of Honor (the Polish band who released the 'Raiders Of Revenge' split with the aforementioned Graveland) and other bands I've heard a million times before. That's not to say it's bad: on the contrary, I think I like Der Stürmer's half of the split even more than I like Capricornus's half. The problem, in my opinion, is that Der Stürmer is held back by their own conception of what they think people expect from them. I admittedly had not heard much from this band prior to this release, but what little I did hear sounded much more inspired and much more genuine than what is presented here. The band is very proficient at what they do, but I feel as if they're holding something back in compositional terms and they're trying to make up for it through their (obviously) enthusiastic playing. The end result is a fast-paced and uncomprising aural assault of blackened thrash, but it can only work so well so many times.
On the whole, this split is enjoyable and I'll hand it to both bands for sticking to their guns. It's the best work I've heard put out under the Capricornus name and I suppose it's representative (if not a simplification) of Der Stürmer's overall aesthetic. Still, this split manages really to be only "above average" and it's not likely to go down in history as one of the most earth-shattering works in extreme metal. In listening to this, I feel as if both bands are on the verge of something great but are intentionally holding themselves back for whatever complicated reasons. I don't think this is something I would recommend to people who are new to this type of music, but that's mainly because it was made with established fans in mind (or so it would seem). It's good music to listen to if you're trying to pass the time, but I'm not sure how much replay value it has after the initial few listenings.

Sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...