Black Wound/Skullsceptre - Deterioration Of Light

Labels: Dry Cough Records

Formats: Tape/Digital

Release Date: 07 Oct 2021

Tracklist:

1. Black Wound - Rusted Teeth

2. Skullsceptre - Inferno From Beyond

3. Skullsceptre - Upon The Cross

I really must stop using the warmest evenings of the year to write about slow and heavy music. I'm pretty sure I did something similar during the July heatwave, but I just can't help myself. This here split features Swedish death/doom trio Black Wound, whom I wrote about in June and fellow Swede's Skullsceptre, with this split featuring their first recorded material. Deterioration Of Light was released on tape (limited to 100 copies) by UK label Dry Cough, who also released Black Wound's previous EP To The Endless Depths, as well as digitally. Tapes are sold out.

The air is so still this evening with barely any breeze, which means having my window open does nothing at all apart from spread this aural filth even further. Black Wound’s up first with their one and only track ‘Rusted Filth’, which proves my description in the previous sentence was correct, but in a good way. Slow, bass-heavy and raw death/doom that’s primed for tape player real-estate. The vocals are equally as low and are used quite sparingly given the song’s playing time. Definitely heavily rooted in the old-school and all the better for it. It’s very atmospheric too though as the second half demonstrates, when Black Wound venture further down the doomy path with slower and darker tempos. 

Skullsceptre fly straight out of the speakers on their first song ‘Inferno From Beyond’, which is made up of a higher tempo version of death metal, though it still takes it’s influences from the genre’s forefathers. It’s no great surprise really given the death metal royalty that came out of Sweden back in the day. The percussion is faster as you’d expect, while the bass and guitar work is more frenetic and punk-filled. The vocals again are deeper in tone, suiting the music perfectly. Split closer ‘Upon The Cross’ is maniacal in it’s delivery, much in the same vein as Skullsceptre’s first song but coupled with a grin-inducing guitar solo and frightening dual-vocals, it really hits the spot.

This split is over all too quickly. Both Black Wound and Skullsceptre shine new light on the Swedish death metal scene, even if it only lights up the gloomier alleys of it’s underground. The torch never burns out but merely passes on to the next. I know there’s been further material from Black Wound (that I’ll be writing about at a later date) but here’s hoping for more from Skullsceptre as well. Until then though, this split is more than worthy.

You can stream and purchase Deterioration Of Light digitally below:-

Black Wound - https://www.facebook.com/blackwound

Skullsceptre - https://www.facebook.com/skullsceptre

Dry Cough Records - https://www.facebook.com/DryCoughRecords