Artist: Profanação / Teufelsdom
Country: Portugal / Russia
Label: Altare Productions
Formats: Split Tape
Year: 2025
This split tape comes rather hot on the heals of both band’s latest releases. Teufelsdom released their second two-track demo last May and Profanação’s second full-length album, also released through Altare Productions, saw the light of day in April. So, with both of these recordings still being fresh, ‘Thundering Silence Of Satanic Prayers’ is more or less a welcome Raw Black Metal dessert.
The Portuguese of Profanação are first and dish up a sharp sounding yet very raw offering that feels very much in line with ‘A Queda Das Religiões Abraâmicas’, the band’s most recent full-length album. Yet, underneath the shrill and treble-dominated sound there is again an impressive display of song crafting. The propulsive power that is the vital engine of the music, driven by the up-tempo drum rhythms, feels like a constant, fast paced heartbeat, pumping adrenaline through its veins. It is that continuous drive and the harsh recording quality that gives the music a certain punk-ish vibe, as well as a bit of a live experience. I am not aware of the circumstances at which these recordings were made, but I wouldn’t be surprised if these are some sort rehearsal-deluxe recordings. Regardless of its origin, Profanação again proves to be another worthy addition to the wealthy Portuguese Black Metal tradition.
Honestly, before having heard this split tape I hadn’t yet stumbled upon Teufelsdom, a rather obscure duo from Russia’s St. Petersburg. So, for a bit of qualitative comparative product research, I had some work to do: digging up these two first demo tapes. Terms like “hidden gem” and “best kept secret” are used a bit too often for my liking, but honestly, I think that vocabulary suits Teufelsdom quite well. Russian Black Metal has always been something that had an exotic connotation for us Western people, with “them” keeping it mostly in inner circle and consequently most of it never even leaving their native borders, yet within the last few years lots more is popping up. Despite the current situation with political and overall cultural restrictions and the ongoing war in Ukraine, every now and then something very interesting slips through the cracks. Teufelsdom, compared to their Portuguese split partners, sounds more muffled and an obvious tad more aggressive. While it hasn’t by far anything to do with Death Metal, sometimes some vague flair of that genre’s darker and more meaty character seems to find its way into the music. But don’t be fooled, this is Raw Black Metal in its most evident form. Yet, within the overall mix there is enough room for diversity in the form of slowing down its pace, eerie melodies and, most strikingly, an impressive skin crawling vocal performance. Teufelsdom is definitely a band to check out if you’re in for something else, Raw Black Metal, but different without going into any weird or quirky territories.
