Artist: Xulux / Kurjuus
Country: Finland
Label: Self-Released
Formats: Split Cassette Tape / Split CD
Year: 2024
Not only do both bands on this split hail from the same Finnish town of Jyväskylä, they are also both one-man bands venturing into the Black Metal genre. That in itself seems reason enough to share a release together, interestingly enough though, they both do colour the genre differently. So don’t expect a perfect symbiosis from these two gloomers.
Up first is Xulux, a project that only released one demo tape back in 2022, that roughly set the tone for this follow-up. It can best be described as fairly standard, ugly and riff-based Black Metal that finds its dynamics within a healthy dose of melodicism and, while the majority of the music is rather pacey, rhythm changes. Compared to the ‘First Litur’y’-demo from a couple of years back, the sound is less muffled and the vocals are a little less rough. Consequently, these four new tracks, now all sung in Finnish, do sound a bit more balanced and accessible, yet without losing much of the intensity of the riffs.
The last part of this split is for Kurjuus. This band reached our pages a few times already and on these specific releases the band showcased a rather bareboned and primitive sort of Black Metal that seemed much rooted in the Folk- and Punk-inspired Black Metal acts such as Ildjarn and Isengard with lots of classic Darkthrone as its core. After the semi-acoustic first track that consists out of quiet strumming and spoken words, it bursts into a song that you could qualify as “classic” Kurjuus. Punky rhythms, shrill sounding riffs, garage-like drums and possessed screaming. The minimalistic way of song writing is still the main ear-catcher and leaves very little to the imagination. If you had a weak spot for Kurjuus’ previous offerings, these four tracks will, for sure, again be just right up your alley.
