Review Summary: A worthy split to check out for fans of atmospheric/nature black metal, but both bands fail to truly harness their talents and potential on this one.
This a decent split if you need a fix of naturey black metal, and a great introduction to the style of both bands on here.
First off is Mavradoxa from the eastern US, who has the advantage of using real drums. The main black metal track is sandwiched between two somewhat forgettable acoustic numbers, which kind of sum of my feelings about their side of the split -- all the components are in place to craft a masterful, natural atmosphere, and yet they fail to truly deliver on that, and the disappointment kind of taints my perspective on their efforts, especially when Mavradoxa prides themselves on their thoughtful and enthralling compositions. That's not to say their performance and songwriting isn't anything less than extremely competent on this album. There's certainly a tangible, natural atmosphere, and I see exactly where they are going with it, but it's just not particularly strong especially when fans of the subgenre have heard better versions of the reoccurring chord progression that crops up through their half of the split. Something just isn't clicking -- and when I listen to their contemporaries like Arkheron Thodol or Cairiss, I find myself sucked into an atmosphere that is far more compelling and evocative.
Mavradoxa clearly knows what they are doing, and have more than what need to accomplish it, so why is the overall composition so underwhelming and flat? The production is certainty excellent, with wonderful crispness and clarity on all the instruments. It must be the songwriting and riff selection --
the main black metal song doesn't go anywhere, and in that sense the extremely generic black metal vocals fit perfectly. While it shares motifs with the accompanying acoustic tracks, they don't seem to build or compliment each other in any meaningful way and it leaves me feeling kind of empty and disappointed. Really, my strongest impression about their 20 minute performance is that it "sounds nice."
It's clearly not the mood or environment I am in as I listen to this, because let's discuss the Deafest side, which I feel is significantly stronger.
Deafest is a solo project hailing from Colorado, with a decade of experience playing music in this same vein. Most immediately noticeable is the use of the drum machine on this half of the split, which can be a difficult juxtaposition to swallow on the heels of the excellent sounding drums on the first half. The two black metal tracks are instrumental as well and feature some keyboards unlike Mavradoxa. Deafest seems well-versed to play to their strengths, and puts great effort into keeping the compositions interesting without having a vocal framework.
The production is significantly worse than Mavradoxa's as well, but within acceptable limits. The guitars don't sound like they were recorded off a real amp, which is a bit of a bummer, but the overall soundscape is nice and cohesive with a good touch of low fidelity that kind of glues together the atmosphere. The songwriting is quite dynamic, chock-full of riffs, harmonies, and melodic leads. Keyboards come and go, slower doomy sections pop up occasionally, and any moments that may be less enjoyable or forgettable are quickly washed away with whatever logical riff selection comes next.
I find the atmosphere on Deafest's half to be much more compelling. There's a real conviction to some of the riffs, and the composition as a whole does a good job of augmenting its pieces and producing something greater than the sum of its parts. Interestingly, the consistency is not as good as Mavradoxa's, but there are parts that are simply better and that's really what makes me enjoy this half of the split more. Overall, if Deafest had real drums, less cheesy-sounding keyboards, and proper-sounding amps, they'd really be in a class of their own if they threw out some of the weaker riffs. Unfortunately, we are only left dreaming of that.
Overall, a worthy split to check out if you're a fan of this subgenre, but I think both Mavradoxa and Deafest didn't quite harness their talent and potential to craft something truly amazing on this one. Unfortunately, that leaves this split in a difficult spot when so many great releases came out this year in a subgenre that is nearly oversaturated.
