Artist: Niteris / Крюкокрест
Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina / Russia
Label: New Era Productions / Horrible Room
Formats: Split LP / Split cassette tape / Split CD
Year: 2022
The Black Plague Circle versus the Pleskau Brethren, or more precisely, Niteris from Bosnia and Herzegovina versus Крюкокрест (or Kryukokrest) from Russia. Two cultures and lauded Black Metal scenes collide on this split that was released in 2022 through New Era Productions.
Besides Niteris, the Black Plague Circle consists of the acts Arjen, Cave Ritual, Deathcircle, Master’s Voice, Nigrum Ignis Circuli, Night’s Majesty, Obskuritatem, Sulphuric Night, Suša, Void Prayer and Vrač. With the exception of Master’s Voice, whose members are unknown, the three individuals that comprise Niteris together are represented in each of the bands of the circle, with especially O. and H. featuring in most of these bands while A. is involved in Suša and Vrač (and Izrod, the continuation of Void Prayer). This makes clear how close the circle is, but despite many members working together in several projects each band has a distinct sound. In the case of Niteris, this is probably the most atonal, eerie and gloomy Black Metal act out of the scene. With raw guitars that continuously shift in tonality, pained vocal outcries and disorienting creative bass riffs, the music crawls deeper and deeper under your skin as the tracks on the split progress. In particular the bass guitar work is ever-shifting, which is particularly impressive in ‘U Sjaju Oluje’. In this song the atonal guitar riffs are alternated with bouts of raging drums, yet the prominent bass riffs continue to shift, disorienting and alienating the listener more and more and they slide deeper and deeper into the abyss that the band is creating.
The Pleskau Brethren (or Псковское братство in Cyrillic script) further consist of Hexenvomit, Hexenvomit, Labynkyr, Mysticité, Needle Fetish, Ógilt, Oxta, Sidekut Slave, Virgin Pimp, Крошка Нетопырь и Малыш Мёртвая Голова, Леший, Неделя Доброты, Плескау Моторокерс and possibly others. In addition, acts tied to the Horrible Room record label such as Hexenvomit and Крюкокрест are often collectively mentioned under the banner of the label name. Unlike their Bosnian counterparts the lineups are mostly unknown, or feature members that only act in a handful of bands. The identity of the Крюкокрест members is just as unknown as it is relevant. Much like on their debut album ‘Домовина’ the band play raw, straightforward, and hateful Black Metal that is distorted with a punky and crusty attitude. It’s gritty, filthy and only marginally varied in a classic Norwegian sort of way and that is obviously meant as a compliment. The uneven simplistic organs in ‘Кресты и Венки’ have the same sort of disorienting effect as on the Niteris side of the split, a track that excels in its simple and repetitive rawness in every possible way.
As with their previous material, the Niteris work on this split is gloriously uncomfortable and disturbing while Крюкокрест offers some of their filthiest punk infused Black Metal. Music for the depraved featuring some of the best material to date for both of the bands. Or as they say it perfectly themselves on the sheet in the LP version, “Крюкокрест and Niteris wish you a pleasant stay in your grave”.
