Reviewed by Oscar Hyde

Two excellent Polish metal bands have collaborated for this split LP. The first are Malchus, whose melodic death metal is matched with the sort of bass-baritone half-chanted half-sung bellow characteristic of early Ulver. The guitars are gloriously crunchy, more in step with the sound of particularly heavy hard rock bands, not the standard chugga-chugs of death metal. Malchus seem to have an endless supply of consistently brilliant riffs to scrunch though those guitars; the title track's rocking, rolling and rollicking is a particular highlight. Other dynamics poke their heads in from time to time, most notably an old-timey piano interlude in "My Hypocrisy". I've no problem proclaiming Caput Mundi to be one of the best low-budget melodeath EPs I've ever heard. The last three songs on the LP are by Pospolite Ruszenie, who've taken a very different approach: they've wed ancient Polish poetry, lo-fi metal, and medieval music, as if Haggard wrote songs about heroes of not just science but faith. While medieval music's always more than welcome, its manifestation's fairly simplistic across the three tracks; none of it features the complexity you might expect from Haggard, and the tunes aren't as strong as Malchus's riffs. No matter; the concept's still a bold step forward in Christian hard music, and I look forward to seeing how Pospolite Ruszenie develop their sound.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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