Artist: Carved Cross / Native Glow
Country: Australia
Label: Solar Wind Productions
Formats: Split Cassette Tape
Year: 2025
The otherwise prolific output of Carved Cross suddenly and unexpectedly came to a halt in 2023. Whereas we had previously struggled to keep up with the pace of this Australian band’s releases, in 2024 we were presented with exactly nothing new at all. This naturally led to speculation that M.N. and his bandmates had thrown in the towel, but just as suddenly as it stopped, the band has now returned with a new split tape. Admittedly, it is unclear to me whether these are old recordings that have been used for this occasion or if it is really a new session. Regardless of when these recordings were made, for those who appreciated the Raw Black Metal of this illustrious band: nothing has changed in the familiar formula. For this release, they are sharing the tape with Native Glow, a band that I had not previously heard of.
Over the years and through the many releases of Carved Cross we have heard the band in different forms and guises, sometimes being experimental, deeply melancholic, spacey or just mainly harsh sounding. On this lengthy and untitled track Carved Cross is taking on the more “regular” Carved Cross, meaning: the more dreary and melancholic one. Of course, the raw recording gives it that typical Lo-Fi sort of experience. But although the band is often, rightfully, credited for popularizing the Lo-Fi Black Metal genre a few years ago, it is clear that Carved Cross has very little in common with bands like Black Cilice, Sanguine Relic or Obskuritatem. Perhaps in overall aesthetics they are share a certain kinship, but on a musical level Carved Cross is a different beast. Its down tempo and thoroughly gloomy atmosphere has even more in common with Funeral Doom than with your regular Black Metal record. In the (creative) process, I always felt that Carved Cross was a band that is for lovers of Black Metal at the bleaker side of the spectrum. Next level Xasthur. The almost nine minute track, new or not, is complementary to the band’s strong tradition in sinister and haunting Black Metal.
Although Native Glow has been around for a couple of years already, they have only been able to release one demo tape back in 2020, that was allegedly only spread in a rather small number through some smaller distros. I outline these circumstances to justify my ignorance, but based on the contribution to this split tape, I can say that it is an interesting project. Project, because there is talk of a conflict of interest in the form of overlapping personnel between Carved Cross and Native Glow. If you judge it musically, that idea is not so far-fetched. What is presented here is not miles away from what Carved Cross is doing. However, the biggest difference is the shorter songs with a very clear punk angle. That results in faster tracks and an evident Garage-sort of ambiance, but the riffs itself as well as the overall sinister vibe are still very much in place. The contrast between the two bands on this tape, with an utterly ghoulish Carved Cross and a more snarly Native Glow, is definitely adding to the enjoyment of the release.
