These seem to be prolific times for the coven of ACHERONTAS: Following their recent collaboration with Nåstrond, this year’s „Dimensional Nomads“ Tour saw the release of this split effort with Irish/Icelandic project SLIDHR. Quite an interesting combination, given the significantly different musical approaches of both bands, „Death Of The Ego/Chains Of The Fallen“ does everything but disappoint. ACHERONTAS’ half is divided into three parts and as with most of their releases, the greek veterans create a self-contained piece of art with a clear arc of tension spanning from the solemn introduction „Wasteland Revived“ to the ambient sounds of „Dispossession“. The title track forms the heart of the composition and once again proves the band’s ability to put the listener through a wide array of emotions and colors within a single piece of musical alchemy. Grandiosity, ferociousness, contemplation, it’s all there in these few minutes. „Death Of The Ego“ feels like a mini-album of its own and would work just as well as single release.

A desperate gasp for air starts off SLIDHR’s contribution to this record and I could not imagine a more fitting kick off for the two suffocatingly dense compositions these gentlemen present here. Much more sharp-edged and harder to access than their Greek partners in crime, SLIDHR drag you into their very own world, where complex riffs and scraps of melodies confuse your mind until it flees to a meditative state that lets you discover the beauty behind the repellent surface. With repeated listens, you work your way deeper and deeper into the music just to be surrounded by an impenetrable yet intriguing web of sound.

The astonishing black and gold artwork tops this outstanding release off perfectly. ACHERONTAS and SLIDHR demonstrate how two different takes on the Black Metal genre can work together to form a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. Excellent stuff.

00 Void