Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Volahn/Tukaaria Split (2011)

As might be expected with their close association and the frequent overlap of musicians in these bands, there were a number of splits shared by bands in the Black Twilight Circle.  Volahn and Tukaaria are each one-man projects, though their paths crossed in Ashdautas and Muknal.  And of course, they put this split together.

VOLAHN
Volahn may be the quintessential Black Twilight Circle band.  The sound is mostly representative of many of the other bands, it is one of the more active projects and is still going strong, and the lyrical subject matter is something that most of the other bands have in common.  That being mythology of indigenous peoples from in and around Mexico.  Volahn provides just two tracks to this split, a short two-minute song which mostly acts as an introduction to the ten-minute epic that makes up their other track.  The sound is as chaotic as I expected given my previous exposures to Volahn.  The first track does not do much, but the second one is a massive, pounding epic with reeling leads and tortured, grotesque vocals.  

TUKAARIA
Tukaaria is a band I have previously only heard on the compilation I reviewed, but I enjoyed that song quite a bit.  Their dedication to second wave Norwegian black metal still comes through here as the band sounds like a Darkthrone record on a higher setting.  The first two tracks sound a little too much alike, with the same crashing drum sound and riffs.  The third song is quite a bit more dynamic, starting off with a slower, melodic sound before getting into a variation of the riffs from the previous two songs.  Ultimately, this side suffers a bit compared to the Volahn side due to the band kind of getting stuck on the same riff.  

I would not call this an essential release for getting into the Black Twilight Circle.  Volahn has sounded much better on the full-length I have heard and I am still not quite sure what to think of Tukaaria.  The Volahn side here is slightly better than the Tukaaria side.  It is an interesting split, and enjoyable in its own right, but there are better Black Twilight Circle releases out there.

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