Band:	Veineliis / Kältetod
Album:	Veineliis / Kältetod
Style:	Black metal
Release date:	March 2006
A review by:	Lucas

Veineliis
01. Son Of Angurboda
02. Without Mortal Agony

Kältetod
03. Aus Trümmern... (Teil 1-5)

This split between the two German Depressive Black metal acts Veineliis and Kältetod was initially released as a gatefold 12". For those that want their music on a smaller audio carrier, there is now the digipack re-release by the Chinese label Temple Of Torturous. They are even rewarded with an extended tracklist: roughly an extra fifteen minutes in total.

Veineliis opens the night of suicide with convincing despair. From the very first seconds the atmosphere is undoubtedly that of a Depressive Black metal act. A pitch-black guitar sound - pure noise to the untrained ear but the kick-off for trance for the fan of the genre – is soon joined by repetitive drum work and harsh vocals. The buried melodies are the best factor in the songs. On the faster parts the drums can get a little sloppy and the vocals are sometimes a little too croaked and not enough shrieked, but overall Veineliis delivers. A good first half.

It's then up to Kältetod to show what he can do. He focuses much more on pure hatred and it shows in the faster riffs, the rawer atmosphere and the extremely distorted shrieks. It's a little more chaotic and vehement than what we're used to from this genre, but still very much dark, hateful and black-hearted. Throw a little "Transilvanian Hunger" with your regular dose of "Hvis Lyset Tar Oss", so to speak.

All clichés about Depressive Black metal are honoured here: both bands are one-man-projects, the music is complete Burzum-worship, the lyrics are about suicide and emptiness, the atmosphere is dark and hollow and the songs are long and repetitive. And guess what? It works. There's better and there's worse of this in the genre, but this split is surely on the good side of river of suicidal bloodshed.