Praised be all the gods (mighty Pan, most of all) – it was well worth the wait. This here split record somehow managed to surpass our highest expectations and took us on a rollercoaster of a ride through the fathomless depths of underground, corossive, occult-soaked doom metal. And even though both bands stick out with their distinctive style, their mutual release seems quite coherent.

 

WHITEHORSE's opening and only tracks spans over half of the record's running time. That fact alone is doom as hell. And somewhat befits these Aussies who during the years built themselves up as one of the world's leading forces of putrid, low-fi, dirty ol' doom. Even with its monotonous riffs that seem to repeat themselves forever, ‘Settled Dust’ is a ridiculously varied and downright colossal slab of metal. Think slow, slooow riffing, combined with Pete Hyde's sepulchral croon and David Coen's noisy industrial input and a harmonious intake of chamber music creeping in just after the 10-minute mark.

 

4 years ago, when reviewing the ‘Altars/Tunnels' demo we stated that “this is by far the most promising local underground demo we've heard in a while”. It's great that all these promises are now being fulfilled. With ‘Rise of the Mighty Tyrant’ (their most powerful track so far?) and ‘Webs of Sorrow’ UPYR demonstrate pure class and a relentless will to move forward and prove themselves as one of the more able bands on the Eastern European scene.

 

Both tracks burst with formidable strength, great sound (thanks to producer Bus-T), traditional Sabbathian riffs, mighty vocals (both mournful clean ones and spiteful death grunts), corrupted death doom and even a surprising take on black metal (in ‘Webs of Sorrow' particularly).

 

Add to all of this the great mastering by KHANATE's James Plotkin, the splendid murky occult lyrics and the truly awesome LP design (based on photos by UPYR vocalist Brodnik), and you get one release that deserves nothing but praise.