Those few who picked up on Finnish newcomer Blood Red Fog’s well-received 2006 debut will be hunting this down automatically, the band’s releases rare and distinctly kvlt but also well worth listening to for fans of Depressive Black Metal, or DBM as I’ll call it from now on. Here, the band has contributed two songs with splitmates and countrymen Funerary Bell providing the other three, and it’s a well-thought-out release indeed. The two bands have a similar sound, but not identical, and the flashes of Folky melody thrown in by the ever-so-slightly more original Blood Red Fog just about give them the edge, but there’s much to enjoy from both.

Blood Red Fog start the split with Hang Above The Soil, subtly epic and surprisingly melodic – imagine recent Isis but much much krieger and mixed with Gorgoroth, and you’re nearly there, although BRF stick with genre conventions like typical DBM drumming (lots of cymbal-tapping) and guitars that merge into a wall of twisted, wavering noise. Vocals are distant, panicked yells rather than screams, and the whole thing holds you spellbound for the seven minutes-plus length. Following track Leave Only Ashes is basically a faster version of the same style, but it’s effective and leaves you wanting more.

Funerary Bell are slightly more straightforward, seeming to be more aggressive in their frustration and eager to take it out on the listener rather than wallowing in self-pity. Vocals are screams, riffs are intense yet still melodic, and the pace is slow on Creating Of Ever-Haunting Ghost and fast on Guardian Of My Infernal Path. For a band formed in 2007 on their first non-demo release, Funerary Bell are excellent and their He Is Here song especially so, the vocals turning truly demented. The only reasonable reaction is more, more! Both bands are more than worth keeping your eyes open for, this split a splendid introduction for the curious and an affirmation of quality for those that already believe. No MySpaces, this is the real deal.