Kūka'ilimoku/Aarkanne — Ele'abyssus

Ele'abyssus is a raw ‘n’ raging black metal EP split- bringing together the barbarically gunning BM punk of Seattle, Washington’s Kūka'ilimoku. And the cluttering malevolence and harshly baying vocalising of Chile’s Aarkanne.

The release appears on Lithuania’s Inferna Profundus Records- as either a vinyl release or a digital download. The physical version comes in two different editions- one in black vinyl(150 copies), and one in red vinyl(50 copies)- sadly the last of these is sold out. The cover artwork features a black and dark blood-red colour scheme, taking a medieval illustration of a mass of people being swallowed by a huge serpent. The release can be purchased directly here. 

So first up we have Kūka'ilimoku side of the split. This Seattle, Washington project has been active since 2019-with their work having themes of both anti-Christianity and Hawaiian nationalism. The project has fourteen releases to its name- taking in demos, EPs and splits- as well as one full-length last year's Pahu O ka Ua. This side of the split takes in five fairly short tracks, with runs times between nearing two and three minutes. We move from the tight churning discordant riffing, meets messily smarting drums, and barked-to-hissed vocals of “Brought Into”. Onto the rapid ‘n’ grim surf to blacked punk guitar-like urgency ‘n’ bound of “Tearing And Mauling”. With their side finishing with the galloping blacked HC Punk of “It Was Different It Changed” which features some great scrawling to noise out guitar leads.

On the second half, we have the Aarkanne side of the split. This Chilean project has been active since 2020, releasing to date four releases including their 2021 debut album Mysterii on Inferna Profundus Records. Their side features two tracks-and these each run around the six-minute mark. We begin with galloping malevolent riff craft meets bashing ‘n’ forking percussion of “Moon Tower Ecstasy” which features thick rolling waves of bayed, growled and spiteful hissed vocals. Moving onto “A Red Vision” which is all gunning and chaotical tremolo rush and bayed hissing vocals, with at times the whole thing blending into a wonderful seared blacked sonic mass. Both tracks are good, though I’m not sure quite why each begins with a rather similarly crude murky ambient ‘n’ sparse ritual drum intro, which doesn’t add much to either track.

So Ele'abyssus is a well-balanced raw blacked metal split, with each party offering up good examples of their own take on the BM form. And I’d say I equally enjoyed both sides, so I will be keeping an eye out for future work from each project