New round from Nihilistic Holocaust, afterthe superb three way wit Hateful, Impureza and Hellspawn. France might have second rate football teams, cheese and wine compared to Italy (eh eh) but surely has a generally better grind and death metal scene – from bands to zines to labels. I have deep respect for this guy Gabriel from Nihilistic Holocaust becouse you can really feel his enthusiasm and deication, he does a superlative zine and fuck, his label is also doing high quality – no nonsense releases.

That said, I am a bit disappointed by these new Impureza tracks. The band has undergone a really heavy stylistical turn since the previous songs I remember. The songs are now sung in Spanish (?) and have even a load of flamenco (!) intermezzos in the middle, plus several structural references to latin music which, while executed in a flawless manner, I really found a bit too much for my narrow tastes. I have listened to these tracks more than once but cannot really get into them. Might be becouse I really find all latin music boring and unnerving and I also don’t really like the language too. If you separate the bollocks, the band still has the full force crunch it had in the past, but I am more into Morbid Angel than Atheist if you know what I mean. Political 6 – just for the spirit. Superior musicianship and excellent recording make these tracks quite interesting. The third track is a real blast though – have a listen.

“Full Metal Jacket” has been inflated a bit for intros but is always fun to hear. It’s a good introduction to Sweden’s Arsonist, whose name made me run for cover in fear of hearing some emo haircut sissies playing the Dillinger Escape Plan clones. No shit, Arsonist instead play pure Death Metal the Nihilistic Holocaust way (it’s becoming a mark of quality) – this means no aimless baggy pant brutal chugging, but just pure Death Metal killer riffs, powerful vocals and a good balance  of solos. Some riffs remind me of old Cannibal Corpse but this really do not end here – staying in Swedish ground one might even collect moments of Genocrush Ferox, Strangulation and Immersed in Blood. The bass guitar has a massive sound but it just wraps the tracks in a distinctive sick low saturate vibe instead of just popping out in the middle like in Primus. Arsonist is good stuff, brutal in an old fashioned way without sounding retro. Brutal riffs, deep growls and power riffs abound, neat shit indeed. I would shoot a full 8.

Sudden Death have among the worse song titles in the world in this split (I”nsert Coin”?? “Broken Wings”??) but compared to Arsonist they’re somewhat faster, even if characterized by a gently rougher – almost garageish recording. While powerful and fast, I am not convinced 100% by the vocals but that does not mean they’re not good, just not competely deep as the previous bands so they just might sound a bit odd in the 4 way. The riffs are not amazing either, even if the songs are carefully balanced in terms of power chords and hyperblasting. The slower to mid-tempo parts – that have historically made Italy the worse country in the world in this field of Thrash/Death – are here too not overly catchy, so the songs just seem a bit flat even tough we’re on good levels in general. I’d drop the mid tempos and cure the faster parts more, or a potentially good band like this risks to end like Obscenity or Pavor in the limbo of routine German Death Metal… 7 nonetheless.

I haven’t heard the full length from Ingurgitating Oblivion but I remember this band was good, just did not remember HOW good it was. This is just the kind of pure 100% Florida Death Metal with the right share of demoniac vibrations and hyperbrutal sound. Darkness and fury unleashed. I could compare this band to our Hour of Penance, they’re really fucking killer. It’s been a while since I haven’t heard good shit like this. I could cite Serpents Aeon, Pessimist, Diabolic to give a rough idea of what kind of muzak we’re talking about – really impressive shit. 9,00 in my book.

I have really appreciated Gabriel’s personal creation on the cover of this Cd, much better than the old one. I just am not sure if this split is on Cd-r or if it’s just the promo copies that have been home burned. But I’d go for the first since my one is hand numbered (#143 of?). To sum it up – I wish there were more compilations like this…