Split EP Review GUYOÐ || BLIGHTBRINGER

Split EP Review GUYOÐ || BLIGHTBRINGER 

There are several firsts surrounding this release, and you might be surprised! This is the first time I’ve reviewed a split EP on the new version of Lelahel Metal. I’ve done it before in the fanzine days, but never on the revamped website. It’s also my first encounter with BLIGHTBRINGER, and honestly, what a pleasant surprise! And the third first? Well, I’ve just discovered Charly Steinpatz, responsible for the ambient interludes featured throughout this release. Three firsts in one package!

The split contains nine tracks, including two songs from each band, with the remaining tracks serving as atmospheric interludes. I won’t pretend to be an expert in ambient music, so I’ll leave those pieces alone. However, they’re well crafted and fit perfectly with the bleak, suffocating atmosphere of this release.

First up is BLIGHTBRINGER with “Demon of Spite,” opening with deafening feedback before launching into blast beats straight from the darkest black metal underground. The combination of black and death metal vocals adds extra depth, while the catchy, powerful riffs keep things moving. I particularly appreciate the production: raw without sounding muddy, clear without being overly polished or compressed. After just two minutes, I’m hooked! Formed in 2022, BLIGHTBRINGER released their debut album in 2024, and this is my introduction to their world. Although they describe themselves as black doom, I’d also call this catchy black metal, with its predominantly slow pace and death metal influences. Labels aside, this is the kind of stuff that makes you hungry for more.

“Throne of Want” begins with a morbid 13-second introduction before suddenly exploding into action. I actually had to replay the beginning several times to catch everything happening! Black metal screams, death metal growls, bursts of blast beats and shifting tempos create an oppressive atmosphere. As the song slows down around the halfway point, the black doom identity becomes much clearer. It’s heavy, sinister and beautifully unsettling, occasionally bringing to mind a collision between Mgła and Mournful Congregation. Another excellent discovery!

Now it’s GUYOÐ’s turn. We’ve already interviewed this band twice, following their debut album Heart of Thy Abyss in 2023 and their EP Death Throes of a Drowning God in 2024. Their first contribution, “Haunting Visions From Below,” delivers exactly what we expect: crushing death doom, massive resonating riffs and vocals alternating between desperate screams and cavernous growls. The sheer weight of this track is everything a fan of extreme doom could ask for.

Finally, “Vaults (The Void Beckons)” is the split’s standout moment. Its eerie arpeggio and distant, mid-range vocals initially recall the epic doom era of Candlemass with Messiah Marcolin. Around the two-minute mark, that classic doom feeling gives way to GUYOÐ’s heavier, more aggressive sound. Dissonant melodies, filthy riffs, savage vocals and those wonderfully crushing blast beats maintain a suffocating tension before the track finally descends into chaos.

Four songs, two bands and one wonderfully dark journey. A truly Austrian underground collaboration, and what songs they’ve delivered! Well done, guys!

GUYOÐ | From the Depths of the Sea

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