“Whatever goes to Hell…stays in Hell.” What a great fucking way to start a split of rotting death. The Ordeals / Daethorn split is more a promotional tape to showcase talent represented by both BLOOD HARVEST RECORDS and HELTER SKELTER PRODUCTIONS. The Bandcamp is presented in true underground fashion with one track being three songs running continuously. The cover art is also hilariously on point int erms of design that I am just having a blast partying in this morgue.

It is not until the second “track” in the Ordeals side that things sort of lock in place for this split. While “Night of the Ghoul” is a great opener in its chaos and decorations, the opener for “Dark Slumber” allows the full extent of this split to be seen as its riffs and classic aesthetic is overwhelmingly fun and effective. Ordeals is death metal fitting into a door half its size to it takes some of the wall with it. It is the definition of nasty which has people problems.

French black metal does not sound like it would fit onto a split full of rotting death. Daethorn is a one man black metal act who has been around since the late 90’s making all of two demoes. Aside from engineering work with Antaeus and various stints in bands like Merrimack and Purge, this artist has kept on the dark side of recognition. In fact the Daethrorn project breaks a 15 year silence with the release of this split. For all intents and purposes, this small split is the return of a feiry black metal sound that seems to run on the fuel of hate and despondency. While French black metal does not seem like a perfect fit for the opposite side, its sound is a perfect compliment to the anti social nature of this whole release.