![beastcraft / hyl – himni ad impios [split]](https://www.vm-underground.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Beastcraft-Hyl-Himni-ad-Impios-Split.jpg "Beastcraft / Hyl – Himni ad Impios [Split]")
Info
- Band(s): Beastcraft, Hyl
- Label(s): Masters of Kaos Productions, Necroeucharist Productions
- Release Format(s): 12" vinyl, Cassette
- Release Year: 2023
- Review Date: September 15, 2024
- Author(s): MarcelB
I guess Beastcraft is a well known name by now. One of the few True Norwegian Black Metal bands left in the ever growing Black Metal scene who stubbornly stick to their roots (and for which they get my eternal respect!). Hyl I have to admit was unknown to me before and originates from Italy and Poland. Masters of Kaos Productions decided to release a split 12′ vinyl limited to only 70 copies. The split was licensed to Necroeucharist Productions to be released on tape limited to 150 copies.
I’ll start with the first part of the split: Beastcraft. Ever since the band started in 2003 I’ve been a fan of their no-nonsense straight forward rather primitive and raw yet very effective and dark Black Metal. Where many bands tried to show off how fast they can play Beastcraft always stuck to their slower and mid-paced Black Metal. All four songs on this split have been taken from previous releases. Opening track ‘The Beast awakens’ is taken from the 2007 full-length ‘Baptised in Blood and Goatsemen’. ‘Satanist’ is taken from the limited tape ‘Crowning the Tyrant’ from 2006 (and later included on the ‘Dawn of the Serpent’ compilation). ‘Black Witchcraft’ can be found on the band’s debut full-length ‘Into the Burning Pit of Hell’ from 2005 and finally ‘Reborn Beyond the Grave’ is from the band’s latest full-length ‘The Infernal Gospels of Primitive Devil Worship’.
That said, if you’re a fan of Beastcraft you by now know all the songs of this split already so this limited vinyl/tape is purely a collector’s item. If you, for whatever reason don’t have all releases yet than this split can be interesting. Especially opening track ‘The Beast Awakens’ is a favourite of mine. The pace is slow/mid-paced with Alastor Nefas’ amazing and hypnotising riffs. ‘Satanist’ is a lot faster and shows resemblances with Urgehal. Again, not surprisingly with Trond in both bands. ‘Black Witchcraft’ from the debut is the most primitive song on Beastcraft’s side of the split with a beautiful (can we talk about beautiful in Black Metal??) lead guitar over the hypnotizing basic riff.
The last track was released only after Trond passed away in 2012 and it’s a 6 and a half minute long epic journey of mid-paced dark, evil and satanic Black Metal. Worth mentioning are the drums here which work perfectly together with the pounding basslines.
Because of the rarity of this release not many people will manage to get hold of a copy. Fortunately all four tracks can be found on other releases as well. And as a fan of Black Metal since the very early days I can only recommend Beastcraft as one of the highlights in the scene. A band that always stuck to their own thing, not following trends and thus releasing brilliant Black Metal that truly shows darkness the way Black Metal was meant to be.
Now for the second part of this split: Hyl from Italy/Poland. To be honest, as said in the introduction, Hyl is completely unknown to me. With one member from Italy and two members from Poland (known from their (session- and live-) work with bands like Ofermod, Black Altar, Batushka, Belphegor, Vader and Hate to mention a few) Hyl comes up with some very interesting atmospheric Black Metal.
Hyl’s part of this split contains an intro and two tracks ‘Into the unknown’ and ‘Endless Illusions’, both taken from the band’s debut full-length ‘Where emptiness is All’ from 2023. And I have to admit, nowadays not many bands manage to leave an impact on me anymore within the overpopulated trendy Black Metal scene but Hyl however does manage to impress. Both tracks last a little over 7 and a half minutes long and are build up in such a way that the tension is always there, with great, mostly fast played melodic any more that sometimes remind me a bit to earlier Limbonic Art. Put on top the intro’s and outro’s from both songs with eerie soundscapes, bells, ravencalls and the sound of wind etc. and a link to Limbonic Art is easily made. Biggest difference is the real drums with Hyl compared to the drum machine in Limbonic Art. The second track ‘Endless illusions’ shows some resemblances with Emperor’s ‘Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk’ album when it comes to guitars. The vocals are dark and deep which fit the music perfect and the production is very good. All instruments can be heard but it doesn’t sound overproduced. It still has this raw Black Metal edge which makes this a very interesting and enjoyable listen.
As said earlier, this split vinyl is limited to only 70 copies so quite hard if not impossible to get hold of. Therefore for the dedicated collectors this vinyl is a real gem. Firstly because of Beastcraft who are one of the representatives of True Norwegian Black Metal with a cross-section of their repertoire. But also because of the very interesting side with Hyl. In fact, I like Hyl so much that I want to get hold of their full-length ‘Where Emptiness is All’ since it’ll be an almost impossible task to find a copy of this split vinyl. If you do find yourself a copy of this split though you should count yourself lucky. It’s a real Black Metal gem!
Masters of Kaos Productions
- Country: Colombia
- Style: Black Metal, Death Metal
- Links: Facebook, Instagram, Bandcamp, Youtube
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Necroeucharist Productions
- Country: Slovakia
- Style: Black Metal, Death Metal
- Links: Facebook, Bandcamp
