apanthropy

Misotheismus/Trhä
Misotheismus/Trhä
Iron Bonehead Productions
Released: 10/23
Version Reviewed: 12″ LP, Brown/Black Splatter, Limited Edition of 300 Copies.

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A1 – Misotheismus – Untitled XIV
A2 – Misotheismus – Untitled XV
B1 – Trhä – Ëmat
B2 – Trhä – Qhëndlhëm Ga Ashzaedlhi Mahh
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The sensation of obscurity strikes immediately here. From the jacket of the LP to the logos of the bands, to the weight and color scheme of the vinyl, down to the music itself, the shrouding of mystery was enlaced completely throughout its entire being. The split between Misotheismus and Trhä is the marriage of two obscure entities, creating an offspring that is scathing, lurching, dungeon-infesting black metal.

Misotheismus is an international two-man project, spanning the globe between Sweden and Ecuador, courtesy of Swedish drummer and guitarist Skoll and Ecuadorian vocalist Maldu. The project has been active since 2021, with several demos and splits to its respective discography. Trhä is the brainchild of Thét Älëf, Nönvéhhklëth detna hacëntera Trha, Jôdhrhä dës Khatës, Dlhâvênklëth fëhlätharan ôdlhënamsaran Ebnan. Yes, that is the full name. And the output of Trhä is absolutely staggering, with the Mexico-based entity releasing, at the time of this writing, 17 releases in 2023 alone, including three full-lengths, five EPs, and nearly ten splits.

The split begins with Misotheismus’ entries. Starting with the track ‘Untitled XIV,’ which opens with an unsettling sample from the 1968 film Witchfinder General, Misotheismus shows no semblance of mercy from the start. Tearing open with a blare of feedback followed by grinding chromatic chords packed within a single octave flanked by an explosive series of downbeats, the song blasts like an explosion knocking a forest of trees over. Maldu screams like a blistering wave of heat atop the primary intro riff that has now morphed into the central narrative, a riff similar to ancient Marduk, around the time of Opus Nocturne era. An accompanying single note tremolo picked melody joins in to accent the primary riff, verses grind into choruses, downbeats add breaks to the chaos, the percussion whips from thrash to pure blasting. An absolutely chaotic and harmful display of power.

‘Untitled XV’ offers no relief, swelling in on a brief tide of distortion before another primary riff compromised of tightly packed intervals and perfect fifth chords begin violently spraying forth like a tidal wave of blood. The whole song whips and lurches together as a violent mass until hitting a break in the form of a half-time ebb. Unlike ‘Untitled XIV,’ there is no accompanying melody, just pure grinding power as the central riff recirculates after the half-time segment resolves. This raw display of tremolo picked chord abuse harkens back to the days of early Dark Funeral. There is a sense of perverse triumph and regalness to the song buried within its power structure.

Moving on to the Trhä side of the split, which begins with the track ‘Ëmat,’ which opens in a violent, dense flurry of blastbeats and grinding chords before quickly breaking apart into a spatial display of occult obscurity. A tempered blastbeat holds time over a harrowing circular melody offset by staccato chord stabs rapidly quickens in pace like galloping skeletal horses, before whip-striking back into rapid-fire blastbeats and counter-melodies that merge back into the central narrative. A brief moment of silence and the song begins a period of transmutation, there is another period of breakneck speed, and then the song enters a slower segment. The riffcraft is in a state of constant evolution and seizure. Unlike the Misotheismus side of the split, which was very direct and to the point, there is a state of abstract here and a more creative, esoteric edge at play in the songwriting.

Closing the split is ‘Qhëndlhëm Ga Ashzaedlhi Mahh,’ which begins with a gorgeous single-note tremolo-picked melody and an accompanying blastbeat. The approach here, initially, is more attune to conventional black metal as opposed to ‘Ëmat.’ The second primary melody of the song is just as strong, but as it is introduced, it begins to fade, and the song opens up slightly in terms of density. There is a moment where the vocals have an unhindered clarity to them before the song quickly recollects and re-saturates in tonality. Much like ‘Ëmat,’ there is a constantly shifting mysticism to the structure, although it is a bit more structured compared to the previously mentioned track.

The production on the Misotheismus side of the split is frontal and extremely pronounced, with great clarity lent to the simplistic riffcraft and warlike drumming. It is a bit of an opposite approach on the Trhä side of the split, which takes on a more reverb-drenched and dungeon-like quality. Both sides are equally strong and complement each other well. Fans of early Dark Funeral and Marduk, blasting black metal in general, will find great pleasure in Misotheismus’ offering. For Trhä, explorers of the avant-garde such as Cloak of Altering or Jute Gyte will have something to take away.

Label: Iron Bonehead Productions
Band: Misotheismus
Band: Trhä

-AJK