When looking at my calendar of releases I have scheduled to review, I noticed the past couple weeks have been pretty sparse. The next couple weeks are looking equally as sparse. I asked myself, “Is there anything out there worth checking out until the new Enuff Z’Nuff drops this Friday?” (not satire). Thankfully, this repulsive little split found its way into my inbox thanks to the good folks at Nihilistic Holocaust. Prior to this review, I had never heard of Silure or Feretro. But as I always say, you never know which band could become your new favorite.
The split begins with Silure. Hailing from France, this band plays early 90s inspired death metal with nods to Morbid Angel and Deicide. There are also black metal undertones, particularly on the opening track, “Le Saut de l’Ange”. “Oxydent” is more straightforward death metal and my favorite of the three tracks. Closing out Silure’s contribution to this split is a deadly take on the S.O.D. classic, “Milk”. I don’t hate it, though I don’t care for it either. Overall, Silure plays by the numbers OSDM which doesn’t do much for me in the long run.
Leave it to Chile’s Feretro to save the day. As soon as the opening riff to “Primordial Ceremony” kicked in, these maniacs had my attention. Imagine if the deadliness of Autopsy collided with the lo-fi aggression of Sarcófago. That’s Feretro for you. “Cemetery Rite” channels early Death with its tormented vocals and nasty riffs. Meanwhile, “Demons of Fire” and “Keep on Vomiting Pain” close Feretro’s contribution in corpse ripping fashion. These songs are violent, thrashy, and bound to tear you limb from limb.
While the Silure / Feretro split will appease old school death metallers of all ages, Feretro wins this death match. If the listener has to ask himself, “Did this come out in 2020 or 1988?”, chances are you’re doing something right. I look forward to exploring the rest of Feretro’s catalog, as well as revisiting Silure in the event they release new music in the future.
6 out of 10
Label: Nihilistic Holocaust
Genre: Death Metal
For fans of: Morbid Angel, Autopsy, Death