Splitting Hairs / Hearing Splits (Jul-Dec 2025)
Splitting Hairs / Hearing Splits (Jul-Dec 2025)
January 22, 2026
Covering the splits that were released in the first half of 2025. Take a listen to some artists putting out a record together without necessarily collaborating. The annoyance of having two or three Bandcamp streams, often with just one of the sides is worth the effort.
SH/HS 2025 Part 1
SH/HS 2024 Part 2
SH/HS 2024 Part 1
Latitudes Of Sorrow is a split bringing together Italian quintet Shores Of Null and Finnish duo Convocation, who present two different forms of extreme doom metal. Shores Of Null contribute the first three tracks, offering their familiar melodic death/doom, with generous gothic touches and an overarching melancholic mood. “The Year Without Summer” is the song that stands out, although it does reminisce Paradise Lost’s style and sound a little too much. Moving on to Convocation’s contribution, “Abbadon’s Shadow” is harsh and discordant with visceral vocals and punishing riffs, and it never gets boring despite its 10+ minute runtime, due to its constant changes and multiple layers. “Empty Room” features some clean guitars, choral singing, and more melodic passages, thus presenting a more accessible and less suffocating side of the band. Overall, the split is a good introduction to both groups for the uninitiated, but it must be said that they actually don’t sound anything like each other. My personal pick is definitely Convocation, whose take on death doom is among the best you can find out there, and both of their tracks are marvelous.
Bandcamp: Label (full)
by nikarg
I guess there's a reason why they bolded "HORSE" on the album cover because it seems I'm not the only one who initially thought this was a collaboration with the power electronics outfit Whitehouse, which would've had some common DNA with Uboa, but there's also some shared DNA, especially with both hailing from down under, with the sludge Whitehorse. Not the first time I make that mistake. Even if Uboa used to have sludgier music on the early albums, the two sides feel very different, with Whitehorse's side being some sludge taken to the extremes of slowness pushing to drone (the opener is 16 minutes long) and some vocals that can get a bit silly at times. Uboa's side is comparatively more dynamic, not only because the shorter runtimes but also because it alternates between noisy and serene moments, with the closing track being the longest of the side and also the most serenely cathartic.
Bandcamp: Whitehorse (full) / Uboa (full)
by RaduP
Two of the best raw black metal bands in recent years, on a split, together. What more could you ask for? Sanguine Relic’s side is surprisingly raw compared to his last few outputs; it perfectly alternates between aggressive and melancholic sections with an enchanting synth in the slower parts. As usual, it’s some of the best raw black metal you’ll get to hear. Gates Of Dawn’s track goes for something a little different and incorporates strong psychedelic rock influences. It’s an ethereal and mesmerizing 7-minute-long odyssey that keeps building up and up, and by the time it ends you want to listen to it again. It’s an amazing song, on an amazing split, between two amazing bands.
Bandcamp: Gates Of Dawn side
Youtube: Full
by Roman Doez
Every self-respecting grindcore split should have at least thirty tracks, which is exactly how much there are on Internal Rot / Mutilated Cop, with its cover art looking like an americanized Junji Ito comic. Obviously that means that the split is chockfull of short songs, with the longest not even scraping the 1:30 mark, while a bunch of the shortest ones giving "You Suffer" a run for its money. Out of the two, Internal Rot is the one most keen on writing something resembling an actual song, having the longest song on the record and only one song shorter than half a minute, all blisteringly fast and heavy. Mutilated Cop, a side project of Caustic Wound members, take 24/30 songs on the record, with only four of those being anything close to songs proper, some even passing the minute mark, the rest numbering their runtime in the seconds, bringing to mind another noisecore side-project.
Bandcamp: Label (full)
by RaduP
Rupture is described on the album’s Bandcamp page as an ‘uninterrupted flow of crepuscular contemplation’; as elaborate as that snippet it is, it does a goo job of capturing the melancholic sheen shrouding the album. Two bands in the metalgaze realm of music come together for a collection of songs that balance beauty and darkness, infusing glowing soundscapes with elements of jeopardy and venom. Beijing’s Asthenia contribute the two-part “Lepus”, a post-black odyssey with pained rasps, dainty clean guitar stretches, bright Deafheaven-inspired melodic hooks, and brooding extreme metal riffing, all rendered in relatively pristine manner. In contrast, the songs from London’s World Coda are produced in muddier fashion, causing similar elements to take on a new form when obscured. The underlying music from World Coda is a very comparable take on blackgaze, but with a more drawn-out, wistful approach, as demonstrated on the album-closing “The World Under Our Night”.
Bandcamp: Label (full)
by musclassia
Wise Blood Records introduces part 4 of their Faster Than The Devil series, which, inspired by past compilations/splits such as Speed Kills and Warfare Noise, has featured an array of esteemed modern thrashers, such as Bloodletter, Graveripper, and Wraith. This split features Indonesian blackened thrashers Nattmaran for the third time, who are joined by two more bands from their nation, Demon Sacrifice and Ventor. Each band presents 4 tracks each, together unleashing a striking concoction of blackened speed, old-school thrash, and traditional heavy metal bursting with enough exhilarating melodies and ferocious energy to get your adrenaline pumping and head banging into action. The nostalgic old-school energy is not only captured through the music but also the mighty epic axe-wielding cover art by Timbul Cahyono, which ideally suits the heroic beast-slaying themes.
The groovy riffs and shredding solos slice and slash this and that way, just like the serrated axe would through its foes, whilst the vocals summon you to the heat of bloody battle through aggressive rasps and wailing war cries. It really doesn't matter whether your preference is speed, thrash, or heavy metal, if you're ready for some no-nonsense, old-school metal with delicious grooves, neck-breaking ferocity and nothing more, then pick up your axe and follow the mighty warrior riding the armour-plated war pig into the midst of beast-slaying action.
Bandcamp: Label (full)
by AndyMetalFreak
This is the third consecutive edition of this article series in which Sickrecy have appeared, and their latest split with Brainwasher is very much in the same vein as the Sickrecy / SlothPhantomMoth and Man's The Leech / Oppressor: Salvatio releases. Across just less than 10 minutes, this pair of Swedish extreme music purveyors straddle the line between OSDM and grindcore; Sickrecy’s “First World Anxiety” in particular is heavy on the classic buzzsaw sound, although “I Am Paty” is more frenetic and blast-heavy. Brainwasher have an even murkier and cavernous instrumental tone, adding a meaty rumble to their relentless aggression.
Bandcamp: Label (full)
by musclassia
Finally, a split between Matt Stephens, Matt Stephens and Matt Stephens.
From its inception in 2021, Putrefactive Recordings has mostly been a label used by Matt Stephens to release his numerous projects, most of them under the Effluence or Tantric Bile banner. Some friends and collaborators have joined along the way, like Steve Matthews Trio (which Stephens is a part of), but this is above all else a label where Matt Stephens can unleash his strange experimentations on the world. If you’re in any way familiar with Effluence, you already know what to expect from this split, and Stephens isn’t here to prove you wrong. Effluence play their traditional free-form brutal death metal, while Tantric Bile plays a bunch of nonsense (in a positive way), and Steve Matthews Trio’s song is noisy free improvisation. It’s nothing new if you’re familiar with any of these projects, and it’s far from the best thing they’ve written, but it’s a pretty fun time and a good summary of what this label is all about: pushing music beyond its regular constraints, no matter how weird it gets.
Bandcamp: Label (full)
by Roman Doez
Ya̧nomamö’s debut, and thus far only, full-length album Neither Man Nor Beast is approaching its decade anniversary with no obvious sign of a follow-up impending; instead, the Australian sludge doom act has now released a second split album, but while their release with Slomatics was a global affair, they have stuck within Australia this time around for Mourners / Ya̧nomamö. Mourners contribute only one song, but the 11-minute “It Only Gets Worse” makes its presence felt, throwing around slow, lumbering riffs punctuated by ominous guitar leads. Ya̧nomamö’s own contributions are shorter, meaner, and occasionally faster, although this split as a whole is very much an intentionally stodgy affair.
Bandcamp: Mourners (full) / Ya̧nomamö (full)
by musclassia
These are two names I haven't heard in a while, with only one of the two projects actually having released a full length before hand. Belliciste, with its ties to the more recently active Barshasketh, is the more traditionally second-wave-ish of the bunch, with its raw but occasionally melodic riffing and its monotonous raspy vocals. Úir is a name I recognized from back when I covered them in the Clandestine Cuts, getting to know them through their connection to Haar, are the more atmospheric of the bunch, as also evidenced by the longer song lengths. The two also collaborate on one of the tracks, one where thankfully it is Úir's vocalist taking the helm, and given how the two bands share a drummer and one of them is a two-man band, it does feel like that track is Úir getting some extra oomph in the guitars and going for a more direct approach to songwriting.
Bandcamp: Label (full) / Úir (full)
by RaduP
While each year’s share of metal split releases are typically dominated by dime-a-dozen grindcore/sludge/stoner metal band collaborations, every so often there is a record that exhibits some real ambition. Illusory Dissolvents is a three-way release from a trio of (when known info) American dissonant/avantgarde extreme metal bands, each unleashing onslaughts of cacophonic fury. One-man project Light Dweller, who also released the solid disso-death album The Subjugate in 2025, contributes a 14-minute leviathan for Illusory Dissolvents that exceeds the runtime of any song on that album, and which takes no prisoners with its relentless dissonant assault, offering very little in the way of respite until its closing seconds. The four tracks from Aoecist combined run for less time than Light Dweller’s effort, but they offer mad discordance and oddball keyboards, while Sleep Paralysis contrast cavernous death metal assaults with harrowing slower doomy atmospheres.
Bandcamp: Light Dweller (full) / Aoecist (full) / Sleep Paralysis (full)
by musclassia
It’s been a while since we’ve last heard of Warp Chamber, with their first and only full length now being almost 6 years old. Stylistically, there hasn’t been too much evolution since Implements Of Excruciation, sticking close to the Swedish formula of thrashy OSDM à la Dismember, although hints of brutal death metal can also be heard this time around. It’s a very catchy and well realized track, and I don’t think you could realistically ask for more within this style of death metal.
On the other hand, I was not familiar with Benothing. But with a track like this one, you can bet I won’t forget about them. In less than 5 minutes, you get enough riffs to eat for days, in addition to a very well realized experimental atmospheric section in the middle of the track. I don’t think I could ask for much more in death metal, this track alone has put Benothing on the map for me and perfectly closes this great little split.
Bandcamp: Label (full)
by Roman Doez
This split had its genesis in a co-headline tour of Glaswegian sludge act Headless Kross and Derbyshire industrial noise rock band Pound Land, with a sufficiently strong rapport established between the two bands that they decided to cover one of each other’s songs for the split. Headless Kross perform a classic take on sludgy doom, with filthy guitar tone and raw harsh vocals but also plenty of groove, and this carries over into their cover of Pound Land’s “Pathogen”. It makes it surprising, therefore, to listen to Pound Land’s side of the split, and hear how markedly different their style is. The shouted vocals and erratic saxophone accompany a lighter yet similarly brooding noise rock sound, with portentous bass grooves and janky guitar chords. Their take on the Headless Kross song “Signed In Blood” is perhaps heavier than the rest of their side of the split, but it’s still difficult to visualize the two bands sharing a billing with one another.
Bandcamp: Label (full)
by musclassia
Hardcore punk is not known for its extended runtimes, so it's no surprise that it takes ten minutes to listen to both sides of this split. Here we have two hardcore bands, one from Portland, Oregon, one from Tijuana, Mexico, each of them having a full length to their name so far, each of them female-fronted, and each of them blisteringly fast and full of anger. None of the split's songs go over two minutes, but there are a couple of differences between the two, aside from the language of the lyrics. Violencia's vocals are sharper and the music is more fast and chaotic, while Dry Socket is slightly gruffer with the instrumental side having more bass and taking a bit more from classic hardcore.
Bandcamp: Dry Socket (full) / Violencia (full)
by RaduP
Anything we miss? What were some of your favourite splits of the year so far?
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Posts: 64410
Damn good this should be monthly editon and non metal arricles should be twice a year spin off.
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"  I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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Posts: 9623 Written by Bad English on 01.02.2026 at 14:40 No You make me wish Metal Storm had a block feature
---- Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking One day there will be no heart at all?
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