Throne of Sacrilege kicks off their half of the split with “Sacrilegious Impalement,” a fast burner of equal parts black and death metal. The band comes across with a  bit of a Belphegor influence especially in the black metal styled tremolo patterns, but they have a lot more than that going for them. Chunky death metal riffs a la Asphyx help flesh out their sound while vocalist Shaun Albro belts out some seriously nasty growls, gurgles, and rasps. “Upon Cloven Hooves” continues along much in the same vein as the opener but with slightly more melody, but “As the Black Wind Howls” is the sure highlight of Throne of Sacrilege’s half. After beginning with a dark prayer, the song tears into a sick black metal riff with death metal undertones before evolving into something more melodic still. Despite being a new band, Throne of Sacrilege shows off some serious songwriting chops on their half. I can see lots of fun stuff coming from these guys in the future. (Interesting side note: drummer Dan Klein also plays for Fin, a sick war-themed black metal band with tons of Vreid influence that you should check out as well.)

While Throne of Sacrilege played a mix of black and death metal, Impurium plays almost pure death metal but with some black metal influences. Lots of deep groovy death metal riffs are on display here as well as some grittier production, but there’s not much in the way of identity here. It’s actually executed pretty well, but there’s so little interesting or unique material on Impurium’s half that listening to it seems pointless. “Ad Secular Impurium” actually has a cool black metal riff towards the end, but not much sticks out otherwise. I mean, yeah, it’s not bad, but there’s only so many times I can listen to these trite tropes carried out over and over again. Pass.

Like I said, a split is a great way for new bands to new bands to prove themselves. Throne of Sacrilege has certainly done that. If some in-your-face black/death metal sounds good to you, their half of this split is something you should take a look at. Impurium, however… Let’s just say I won’t be paying much attention to what they’ll get up to in the future.