Artist: Drowning The Light / Forbidden Citadel Of Spirits
Country: Australia
Label: Winterreich Productions
Formats: Split LP
Year: 2024
Just before the release of the five new Drowning The Light albums, this split LP was released, right at the end of 2024 – second Christmas Day to be precise. Although most of the material on this split LP is new, it is not a completely new release. In fact it is a re-release of a split tape that was originally spawn into the world in 2008. The original split tape had only two songs, one for each band, while this freshly release piece of vinyl offers you a two full sides of music to make it even more interesting.
Since these recordings are over fifteen years old and were recorded within the first years of Drowning The Light’s existence, it might not surprise that they are much rawer and crude in nature than the just released bunch of new albums. While Drowning The Light anno now sounds rather dreamy and lulling, ‘Long Forgotten In The Shadows’, the main track, still sounds as harsh as anything Azgorh recorded back in those 00’s. But even within that devastatingly grainy texture, there is a beautifully lingering melody that exudes that seductive melancholy characteristic of these early Drowning The Light recordings. I personally love the newer Drowning The Light albums, but especially after having heard those five new records a few times, it is breathtaking to listen to these old recordings. Azgorh always had this splendid sense for melancholic, long-drawn melodies and this main song is a true testament to his musical abilities: another proof that simplicity can sometimes do more than a whole orchestra.
The two extra tracks ‘Path Of Old’ and ‘The Lonesome Night Sky’ were recorded even a year prior, in 2007, but with the same line-up. Although Drowning The Light has primarily been a one-man operation, on some of these (mostly) older recordings there were some other musicians involved, like on these two tracks having M.N. (of Forbidden Citadel Of Spirits) on drums. These tracks are as raw and ‘Long Forgotten In The Shadows’, basically recorded live in the rehearsal room or “studio”, and have the same alluring spirit. Especially the closing ‘The Lonesome Night Sky’ is a beautiful track that definitely deserved to be released.
On the other side of the vinyl is Forbidden Citadel Of Spirits, a band that had a strong position in the (Australian) Black Metal scene during the 00’s. Before eventually splitting up, the duo left a remarkably large and strong discography of mostly tapes that were spread via obscure small labels and distros. Drummer and guitarist M.N. released most of that early stuff through his own Winterreich Productions, also the label involved with many of Drowning The Light’s early work. When the band stopped functioning, basically when vocalist and guitarist Ismaelta disappeared, M.N. continued on his own under the Carved Cross moniker. Those who lived through the resurgence of the Raw/Lo-Fi Black Metal genre some years ago will definitely have tried to obtain some of the Carved Cross material, released through labels such as Skjold, Overuse and Goatowarex – possibly for silly prices.
On ‘Absolution Of The Darkest Spell’, Forbidden Citadel Of Spirits’ main track that also appeared on the original tape release, the band sounds much rawer than Drowning The Light, way more venturing into Lo-Fi Black Metal territories. Although I love my fair share of the band’s musical legacy as well as that of Carved Cross, it is quite a bit of a transition going from the last captivatingly beautiful track of Drowning The Light to this ultra-crude exercise in primitivity. But, once used to the sound and “production” this song unfolds as one of the best songs of the band from that specific era. The gritty texture and the loud-as-fuck vocals do convey a true underground Black Metal spirit of the mid 90’s with a significant French flavor. The bareboned structure of the 10+ minute song breathes a possessed and hallucinatory atmosphere, certainly not for the faint of heart. The second, and extra track, is called ‘Improvised Live Evil 2007’, that might imply that this was actually recorded in a live environment. Since everything is as raw, it is hard to tell whether this was recorded on stage or if the song is just recorded in one take in a rehearsal room. Anyway, this improvised (?) song is almost even better than ‘Absolution Of The Darkest Spell’: the raw production in which the guitars and drums are pushed away into the background makes the vocals sound maniacally evil. Regardless of what this song is, it is a truly worthy addition to this split LP.
I remember those early days when people laughed at you when you would say you bought something new from Drowning The Light. Something I never understood, but listening to ‘Long Forgotten In The Shadows’, someone really needs to explain to me where that nonsense came from. And judging from the fact that this split LP, released in 150 copies, sold out within a matter of moments, it shows a justified renewed interest in the band. On the other hand, the extreme craziness from a few years ago around bands like Carved Cross showed that even for the niche-in-a-niche genre like Lo-Fi Black Metal, there is a market willing to spend a lot of money for limited cassette tapes or records like this, so the fact that this split LP was gone in a jiffy should hardly have been a surprise.
