Geist/Sunlight's Bane - Split 7"

Tracklist:-

1. Geist - Gold Sores

2. Geist - Location Data

3. Sunlight's Bane - 指詰め

4. Sunlight's Bane - Spoke The Cancerous Void

2016 was a pretty good year musically and I'm still working my way through much of it (including releases that I own myself), including this split between UK noisy hardcore quintet Geist and like minded US blackened grinders Sunlight's Bane. Geist was a band familiar to me due to previous live exposure and their previous bands; however, this was my first opportunity to hear Sunlight's Bane. The 7" was released on two colours last September via the triple threat of UK label Vetala Productions, Germany's Wooaaargh Records and US extreme label Seeing Red Records. 

Geist are as frightening on record as they are live. Frightening might actually be the wrong choice of word but for anybody who’s witnessed them in a confined space, you’ll know what I mean. Sheer volume and power is their main weapon and the grinding, hardcore battering you get from Gold Sores is more than palpable. Ian’s vocals are as pissed off as I’ve ever heard them, yet there’s an assured calmness within the instrumentation alongside. The squealing feedback shatters that calm though and the raging continues on Location Data. Elements of Holy Terror hardcore seep through the dissonant guitars and it seems as though they’ve reached a new level as a band. There might possibly be a record on the way, so watch this space. Sunlight’s Bane gather together raw and violent grinding black metal with a hypnotic rhythmic precision on 指詰め. It’s over before you know it and much like the aesthetics on cover, it paints a bleak picture. Spoke The Cancerous Void is intensity personified with high pitched screams piercing your ears right from the start. There are moments where Sunlight’s Bane slip into groove-like passages, but they only break up the chaos. The mid-section contains chunky riffs that carry on until the song fades out. Mixing hardcore with a more necro approach, they make one hell of a point. They also have a new record on the way this year. This split has been really well put together and both Geist and Sunlight’s Bane seem ready to herald in a new era of hardcore extremity.

You can stream and download both sides of the split via the bandcamp pages below:-

You can pick up physical copies from the links below:-

Vetala Productions - https://basick.supplies/collections/vetala-productions (No longer stocked in their bigcartel store).
Wooaaargh Records - http://www.wooaaargh.com
Seeing Record Records - https://seeingredrecords.bandcamp.com/merch
Geist - http://geistuk.bigcartel.com

Geist Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ukgeist
Sunlight's Bane Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/sunlightsbane
Vetala Productions Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/vetalaproductions
Wooaaargh Records Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/WOOAAARGH
Seeing Record Records Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/seeingredrecords