Artist: Malokarpatan / Botulistum
Country: Slovakia / The Netherlands
Label: New Era Productions
Formats: Split LP
Year: 2023
Both with a long-awaited full-length under their belts, 2023 wasn’t a bad year by any means for either Malokarpatan or Botulistum. But it turns out the Slovakians and Dutch had another trick up their sleeve in the shape of a vinyl only Split, available in a multitude of vibrant colors courtesy of New Era Productions.
Malokarpatan kicks off their side of the coin with a track once recorded in a few drunken dementia sessions in 2015-2016. ‘Nazbíral sem žene jedovaté huby’ isn’t a Malokarpatan original, but was instead released by the Country/Folk Rock band Bukasový Masív on their 1991 album ‘Black & White’. Not much is left of the original style, and the song has been successfully transformed into something that is perhaps a little more on the Folk side of the Malokarpatan spectrum, but certainly falls in nicely between the Black Metal found on the first two albums ‘Stridžie Dni’ and ‘Nordkarpatenland’. The thick Heavy Metal sound is ready to emerge, but especially the Bathory-esque vibe is fittingly still very apparent in this interpretation. We’re further treated to a live version of ‘O víne, kterak učený Hugolín Gavlovič z Horovec vyprával’ off ‘Stridžie Dni’. The song was part of the band’s first live appearance in 2014 that only consisted of this song. While interesting and of decent sound quality, you can argue this is more one for the collectors amongst us. But let’s face it, isn’t that exactly what makes split releases like this so appealing to add to our collection.
On the flipside we find Botulistum’s track ‘De Goorlap’, which could be translated to ‘The Filthy Fucker’. And let’s face it, that’s exactly what the band stands for and what this song represents. A grueling slow lengthy track with minimal progression and extensive periods of feedback and simple drum rolls, this shows the band at their most primitive and disgusting. With a thick and bass-dominant sound, the most obvious comparison would be something along the lines of Barathrum playing a Blackened Doom version of Motörhead’s ‘Orgasmatron’. In other words, stripped down, heavy, filthy and regressive Black Metal for depraved minds.
Some early influences for Malokarpatan carved into an interpretation to call their own as well as a debut live performance, combined with more Peat Metal filth by Botulistum. If that doesn’t appeal to you, you probably wouldn’t have made it to this review in the first place. In other words, vinyl collectors amongst us will know how to find their way to the New Era store to secure themselves a copy.
