Esoteric Youth/Caina - Split Tape

By now, both of these bands should be more than familiar to you. Caina's black metal soundscapes and the caustic hardcore of Esoteric Youth have been filling speakers and blowing eardrums for the twelve months. They've bolstered and improved upon the current climate within the UK heavy music "scene" and earlier this year, they came together to release a split tape that was released via Church of Fuck and French label Swarm of Nails. Both labels have also collaborated on the forthcoming Heksed/Deathseekers split 7" that I reviewed earlier in the year.

Tracklist:-

1. Esoteric Youth - Kvarblivelse
2. Esoteric Youth - Forlat
3. Caina - We Sleep
4. Caina - Apochrypha

Having toured not so long ago with their Norwegian label-mates Heksed, it’s clear that Holy Terror has further infiltrated Esoteric Youth’s sound. Kvablivelse sounds ethereal, especially with the guitar tone that washes through the song. The slow crawling end section, the switch between low growls and high screams and the relentless drumming set a very high bar for the rest of the split. The swathe of feedback that ends Kvarblivelse runs into the intro of EY’s second contribution Forlat. It starts out slower and sits in a sludgier, darker place. Dom Moss’s vocals here are the closest they’ve been to a full-on black metal drawl while the guitar melodies are reminiscent of Drudkh’s hypnotic blueprint. These two songs may be short, but they sink in and bury themselves immediately.

In stark contract, where EY’s sound was warm and full, Caina’s is as icy as you would expect. Still a solo project, A C-B plays all the instruments and provides vocals on We Sleep. Creating black metal that surpasses that of your peers is very difficult, especially in a country where it’s becoming more prevalent but A C-B produces music that builds on the previous effort, Earth Inferno. Apocypha’s atmosphere instantly changes the mood. It has more urgency and even during the minimalism that takes hold in the mid-section, with added intensity created by Dom Moss's guest screams.

It’s all over pretty quickly and there are subtleties that you won’t pick up on first listen. What may have seemed like an unlikely split pairing before is actually an inspired one. They compliment each other with their contributions as they are, and excuse the phrase, singing from the same unholy hymn sheet. Plus, if you don’t find the sky blue and bright pink tapes super evil, then there’s no hope left for you!

Stream the whole split here:-


You can grab this as a digital download from the above bandcamp page. 

Church of Fuck have sold out of their allocation. Swarm of Nails still have white copies, as well as some bright pink tapes left here - http://swarmofnails.limitedrun.com/.

The terrifying sky blue tapes are only available directly from the bands, at shows. There may or may not be any left.

Esoteric Youth - https://www.facebook.com/esotericyouth
Caina - https://www.facebook.com/cainaband
Church of Fuck - https://www.facebook.com/churchoffck
Swarm of Nails - https://www.facebook.com/swarmofnails