Artist: Black Offal Messiah / Burning Winds
Country: USA
Label: Sexmord Records
Formats: Split 7″ EP
Year: 2024
This split 7” EP is actually not really new. In fact, about a year old now, but it took me quite some time to get my hands on. Despite I am usually trying to keep up a bit with the endless stream of releases battering our senses on a daily basis, in a frantic attempt to remain relevant, we all know that good music is timeless and Extreme Music is in fact even well if it aged a bit. Ah well, so much for my apologies, on to the main business.
This piece of black wax united two entities out of the American scene that are not quite suitable for every set of ears. Burning Winds might be a familiar name for those who dig deep enough in the realm of American Black Metal. Black Offal Messiah is a little harder to pinpoint in a particular niche, but their pitch black art is definitely something that will suit both followers of bleak Black Metal and Funeral Doom.
Black Offal Messiah is first up and delivers over five minutes of something that indeed keeps middle ground between the haunting sort of Black Metal of Xasthur and Funeral Doom that feels reminiscent to Tyranny and Esoteric. The deep and punishing riffs, extremely slow pace and the eerie vocals blend expertly with the sinister soundscape that even reminds of some of Abruptum’s demented masterpieces. For good measure, some spooky piano has been woven into the second part of the song. Definitely nothing for the faint of heart or those seeking well-organized verse-chorus-verse sort of music. Plus, if Metal-Archives is banning it from being accepted in their database, you know it is going to be interesting.
On the other side of the EP we do find Burning Winds, the illustrious one-man entity that’s responsible for some of the ugliest and nastiest primal Black Metal ever to be released from the North American continent. People tend to mainly talk about Profanatica, Havohej or Demoncy, but while these might have been there a bit earlier, Burning Winds is definitely one that should be mentioned more often. The clunky way of playing and simplicity of the compositions do add largely to the overall atmosphere of a pure and rather improvised sort of evil. Expect nothing that comes remotely close to sophisticated song writing, musical harmony or overall well-thought out ideas. Burning Winds has always been about channeling pure occult and evil music and these two songs are no exception. As a whole, these two tracks are a bit on the slow side and therefor make a perfect fit with Black Offal Messiah’s contribution to this split 7” EP. People who never understood the band before will not be converted, those who loved the band for what it is, will definitely find a great addition to their collection with this latest Burning Winds release.
