Artist: Goatflesh / Bestial Vomit
Country: Ukraine
Label: Unpure Records
Formats: Split Tape
Year: 2025
Originally this split tape was already released in 2022 by Bathöryhead, a rather obscure label from Ukraine that seems to focus primarily on bands from within their own national borders. Given that release date and the large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, it is highly unlikely that many of those first 33 copies were distributed outside their own circles. So, that alone already warrants a reissue. Unpure Records signed in and gave it another go of 50 copies through their “DIY Ungodly Underground Series”.
Goatflesh is up first with three tracks, including a Morbosidad cover. Their choice for covering Morbosidad is telling for the way they are looking at the Black/Death Metal genre. Some would like to call it Bestial Black/Death Metal others will leave off the bestial part, but either way, it is brutal and slightly chaotic. The chaotic feeling of the music is, for a chance, not channelled through relentless barrages of riffs and pounding drums, although there is plenty of that going on, but mainly because of the way the vocals are poured over it. They are loud and rather frantic, giving some extra energy to the otherwise slightly standard music. Even if there’s some slower parts even with a chugging groove and an attempted melodic lead, it doesn’t elevate the music above average or take it off the beaten track. But don’t get me wrong, that isn’t a totally negative remark: just as the rest of Goatflesh’s oeuvre this is just a good and entertaining listen.
On the other band, Bestial Vomit (not the Italian Grindcore band) seems to have aimed a little higher. Not that any of these four tracks are going to change your perception of the genre, but their punky approach to it gives it a slightly fresher character. It also helps that Bestial Vomit’s songs are slightly clearer, I wouldn’t necessarily say that the songs are well or even better produced, but their sound allows the songs to show a bit more detail. That has a downside as well, it also reveals the band’s rather clunky musical skills. I’m sure this will put people off, but in a way that actually adds to the overall demo feeling of this set of songs. Bestial Vomit’s extremely simple and sloppy playing prevents them (for now) from reaching higher goals, but the question is whether that is actually necessary. Because here too, this is an entertaining ride. In addition, it seems that the band threw in the towel not long after the original release date of this split.
