Artist: Asiratic Lithomancy / Eternal Ice
Country: USA / Japan
Label: Elf Eggs
Formats: Split Tape
Year: 2025
Although I have pretty much covered all of Eternal Ice’s material so far, I somehow failed to review this split tape with Asiratic Lithomancy. Time to set that record straight, even though the 33 copies of this split tape might be long gone, it still is worth spending a few thoughts and words on as both bands deliver some excellent Black Metal that needs to be heard.
Asiratic Lithomancy is up first and those who have heard at least one of the many demos and split tapes as well as some of this musician’s other bands/projects, will definitely agree that this specific project might be the most traditional. That, in a way, also fits with the band name.
I’ll be honest, I needed Google to find out and understand what the band name actually meant, but here goes: the term “Asiratic” pertains to Aširat, an early recognized designation for the mother goddess in ancient Semitic faiths, revered for centuries prior to receiving a name. Aširat not only predates written language but also came way before all recorded wars and human hierarchical structures, being one of the oldest known entities of any religion. Lithomancy, the second part of the band’s name, is a ritual in which divination is performed using stones and light. This practice was particularly common in ancient pre-Christian Britain.
Keeping that in mind, it is not surprising that Asiratic Lithomancy also harkens back to some the earliest fundamentals of the Second Wave of Black Metal. There’s a strong Darkthrone vibe in most of the songs and, even reminds of bands like Carpathian Forest and Urgehal when the band takes on a more rocking pace/rhythm. Yet, unlike many of the primarily Norwegian bands sporting this take on the Black Metal genre, Asiratic Lithomancy isn’t purely pampered with sharp-edged riffs. Instead it even sounds remarkably murky, almost warm, allowing the tracks to have quite a bit of an own identity. Compared to many of E.’s other projects, like Red Right Hand Of Plague, Thirsting Ampoule, Vëřťžîmbrÿġțžûmşțřě and Zkywbrezdreb, this feels very much like his Sunday morning kind of band: simple and rather straight forward. Yet, sometimes less is more and this is quite a
Whether this is intentional or not, Eternal Ice’s material is perhaps the most basic in their discography. The songs that the Japanese duo now presents are basically not that different from what they usually record, but with a thrashy and almost punky swing, it all sounds a bit more rousing. With a little goodwill, this could even be classified as Black/Speed Metal. In that sense, it is certainly a lot more primordial, harking back to the old reflexes of the Black Metal genre. Yet it still sounds unmistakably like Eternal Ice, especially because it also has a stronger Pagan and triumphant connotation than their previously released material. Perhaps less intriguing and certainly less raw than some of the other Eternal Ice material, I guess this is the best (sounding) we’ve heard from them so far.
