Artist: Witchcraft / BlackStream
Country: Finland / Italy
Label: Wolfkult Religion
Formats: Split 12” LP
Year: 2026
Capping off a set of Witchcraft releases on Wolfkult Religion is ‘House of Sacrilege’, a Split release that was already launched in January 2026. This time we find the Finns pairing one of their rehearsal recording with a partner from Italy, the enigmatic Black/Noise entity of BlackStream, with both bands contributing a divinely full number of seven tracks.
Witchcraft possesses side A with their ‘Die Nazarene’ rehearsal that was recorded in 2024, with two of these tracks make their first appearance on any of their releases thus far. ‘Second Fall of Christ’ is a slow, grooving track, filled with regressive first wave Black Metal riffs, church bells and eerie keyboards. ‘Mouth of Hel’ then is a bit more uptempo, in line with most of the other tracks on this release, with unchained growling, wild drumming, simple yet effective riffs and a bunch of nicely unpolished solos. In addition, we find four other songs that have been previously featured in one way or another, and a cover of Beherit’s Nocturnal Evil’. These are all draped in a rather good sounding production. Obviously, we’re talking about Witchcraft, so the end result is still utterly crude and primitive, but the elements are quite distinguishable, with perhaps only the vocals a tad on the dominant side in the mix. if anything, the reverbed growls add to the volatile and regressive spirit of the band and thus the Witchcraft contribution to this split is exactly what you want it to be: more of the same good thing. Unpolished, authentic and eerie, adorers of that ancient primitive sound of Beherit, Barathrum and Archgoat will obviously love this split for this side.
As expected, BlackStream’s take on Black Metal is far more experimental than their split counterparts, although we do get a fair few churchbells, the same hissing and growling vocals with plenty of reverb, and a strong creepiness in the atmosphere. But obviously, the music is otherwise devoid of guitars, and instead it’s the Noise and Industrial samples that together with the keyboards and vocals that make up the chunk of the music. It does make the band a bit less accessible for the average Black Metal fan, and admittedly not normally my cup of tea. But if we were to dig a little bit into the music though, there certainly is a sense of unity and overlap between Witchcraft and BlackStream. Literally in elements like the vocals and keyboards, but also spiritually through the unhinged vocal delivery and the genuinely foul and uncomfortable atmosphere. So despite one band being totally regressive and the other being entirely experimental, it’s the same intent and spirit that unites both bands on ‘House of Sacrilege’, that same spirit that is keeping the underground spirit of Black Metal burning.
