Gjaldur / Krypta Nicestwa ‎"Von Alten Gräbern / Krypta Nicestwa" Split CD

Amazing split from these two hordes. Limited to 500 copies.
Gjaldur's presents great epic Black Metal, melancholic odes to nature, while Krypta Nicestwa brigns forth their trademark necro(neuro)tic Black Metal incantations, reeking of dungeon stench, with a praticularly brilliant work on the synths on this release.
Released on CD format via Astral Nightmare Productions.

Split releases are pretty popular within the black metal scene, but can be a bit of a difficult thing. You need to identify two or more outfits whose musical output nicely fits together, but whose style is different enough from one another. Otherwise a listener might end up thinking “I would have preferred this to be a full length by just one of the artists” or feeling that there is no real connection between the bands, and that such kind of release has been done in a way to maybe save a bit of money in the production. Astral Nightmare Productions have shown quite a good feeling by bundling together German band Gjaldur and the to me completely unknown act Krypta Nicestwa, each of the two offering more than 20 minutes of new material.
Gjaldur have gained a bit of prominence within the community thanks to their full length debut “Unterm Totenbanner” from 2018, which is a straight forward, yet highly atmospheric and melodic piece of classic black metal. Their part of the split is more or less the continuation of said album. All songs provide rapid tremolo attacks, often fading away and then begin to come to life again, mounting toward a plateau of ominous and magisterial sound and then flying higher, filling the senses to the brim in a cyclonic storm of pummeling drums, raking riffs, and madly flickering leads, while the vocalist lifts his painful voice into inflamed yet gritty chants. In fact the singer might be a bit of a turn-off for some, as his style is pretty much a love-it-or-hate-it affair. He is switching between a classic and powerful snarling style we all know from this kind of music and a very painfully howling tone, often sounding a bit like a dying dog. This man is possessed, no doubt about it.
Going for a very raw and more atmospheric kind of black metal the second part by Krypta Nicestwa is a pretty interesting and satisfying listen. Often the tracks fall into an abyss of swirling ebon dissonance, using flourishes of despondent psychedelia and unrelenting brutality to accent a menacing black metal core, but never put aside the ambient and hypnotic lead harmonies. While this act is hailing from Poland I feel reminded a bit of some Greek bands, which is a great plus in my books, as I like this melancholic approach a lot.
Overall this split is an amazing release. This is a very good example of how this kind of output format makes sense. Both bands fit together, complementing each other but offering a very unique sound. I would not be able to tell which of the two parts is my favorite one, and thankfully I do not have to. Gjaldur have announced a new released for end of 2020, and I hope to see Krypta Nicestwa also putting out their full length debut. Cool stuff.

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