When it comes to split releases, it’s always important for the bands featuring on them to complement each other well, and Coalition Of The Anathematized is a great example of this. A three-way split between Cardinals Folly, Church Of Void and Acolytes Of Moros, all of the bands are similar yet also bring something different to the table.
Kicking off the release is Cardinals Folly, whose tracks Hyperborean and A Slave Of Karnstein get the split off to a cracking start. There’s a nice bit of energy and momentum to the songs, so they work well at grabbing the listener’s attention almost immediately, which can only be a good thing. In particular Hyperborean is a great little earworm, with the chorus surely destined to be stuck in your head for a while after you’ve finished listening to it!
Up next is Church Of Void, with their tracks Night’s Watch and Moonstone. After witnessing these two tracks live twice about a year prior to this release, I had high hopes for how they would sound on CD, and I was not disappointed! The emotiveness and ambience to the music can’t be faulted, and the element of darkness and mystery to the vocals at the start of Night’s Watch before they lead into a more ‘standard’ approach is very nicely done. Additionally, the guitar solo in Moonstone – which lasts for a good while! – is massively on-point and adds just the right amount of complexity to the song.
Closing the split release is Acolytes Of Moros with their track The World Belongs To Demons, and although the band only has one song on the album, it weighs in at over fourteen minutes in duration so don’t feel like you’re getting short-changed here! With a slower pace to the other four songs on the album, it feels like a good choice for the closing track as it rounds things up nicely as it slows things down. What’s good about the song is the fact it doesn’t repeat itself or feel like it’s dragging, which is sometimes commonplace with longer songs, and it’s a fully immersive listen from start to finish.
All in all, a great example of a split album done right. It’s refreshing to hear such a complementary combination of songs, and all three bands should be proud of what they’ve achieved with this piece.
