Artist: Dark Divination / Wampyric Rites
Country: Finland / Ecuador
Label: Signal Rex
Formats: Split 7” EP
Year: 2026
Two bands, two continents, united by the same label, and in their passion for raw and melancholic Black Metal. To be released at the end of May 2026, Signal Rex presents the ‘Finnish Ecuador Alliance’ Split 7” EP, a collaboration between Finland’s Dark Divination and Wampyric Rites from Ecuador.
First up is Dark Divination, a relatively recent addition to the Signal Rex roster that is led by Dark Divinator. While I thought their ‘Unforgotten’ EP was strong, the debut album ‘Liitto Hengen ja Veren’ particularly impressed me. With a sound deeply diving into the Finnish roots of the band, it combined the typical riff-driven melancholy of the country’s stalwarts with the uncanny sense of atmosphere of Cosmic Church. On this split the band contributes ‘Tainted by Hatred’, a song that fits closely with the debut album. It starts in yearning fashion, with slower melancholic guitar parts combined with floating cosmic keyboard accents. Raw in essence and in the vocals, the power here is in the simplicity and the atmosphere. After a couple of minutes, the song morphs drastically into an intense, fast-paced and tremolo-led outburst with passionate vocals, bringing the fiercer and more overpowering side of the band to the surface. The song then returns to calmer pasture, the melancholy enhanced with clean backing vocals that antagonize the shrieks. As the final minute ebbs out in cosmic ambiance, Dark Divination once again manages to impress by at least temporarily taking away the yearning for departed bands like Cosmic Church with this new song.
While Wampyric Rites calls Inferna Profundus Records their home for quite a few releases, the alliance between Signal Rex and the band from Ecuador goes back to 2022. On the fifth release on the Portuguese label, Wampyric Rites brings their typical take on 90’s / 00’s inspired raw Black Metal. Production wise, ‘Evil Spirit of Varcolaci’ is quite close to the Signal Rex released ‘The Wolves Howl to the Moon’ album, with a sound that’s raw but clear enough to dissect all the parts. This is mostly dominated by the melancholic guitar leads that weave the song together, although props go to the drums. They give the song drive, and urgency, and seem to take command in particularly towards the end. Midway we’re presented with a guitar solo, which is certainly nothing highflying but has all the charm and spirit of the 90’s embedded into it. And thus, Wampyric Rites continues to impress as one of the leading Black Metal bands from the current South American scene.
