When I got this split in my hands, I was just fucking delighted. I love PERSECUTOR as they`ve devastated my ears really well with their “Bestial Overkill” debut cd from 2011. Well, POISONED`s “Rising From Darkness” - their first demo`s a piece of fucking awesome metal, so this split seems to be a really good idea.
Both bands are strongly inspired by Hell, suffused with rot and putrefaction and tend to play in the old-school vein, which, I must admit, is a really important element when it comes to grading this split. Well, that`s the way I am “distorted” when it comes to bands playing such tunes. And when the music is possessed by Devil himself, well, I can only say that’s true fucking destruction for me. Every bandhasdelivered four tracks each for this split album.
Beside their own tracks, POISONED busted us pretty good with the French MASSACRA`s cover song, “The Ultimate Antichrist” taken from their unforgettable “Enjoy the Violence”. Well, the first one to start the dance of death isPERSECUTOR with “Wargodz&Rawdogz / Guttermouth.” It`s an amazing blend of black/thrash with some subtle death metal elements – all served so well that it damn kills ok!
“In Black hearted Rage” is one of the more interesting, and rather death metal sounding tracks from this split. Next comes “Sadistic Sacrifice,” my personal favourite, an awesome piece of fucking thrash metal with plenty of Devil in it. “Armageddon Warhead” is a massively brutal track that touches on death metal, with a high dose of metal feeling and catchy solos. That`s really cool sounding old-school death metal, fuck yeah!
The POISONED`s first strike is “Atomic Discharge,” the track that`s glorifying DEATH STRIKE almost totally. “Bow down to the Evil One” is another bust; damn dirty sound, total bestiality. While listening to “Torment of War,” I just can’t understand how they were able to get such an old-school sound. This track is damn energetic. Well, whilst listening to “The Ultimate Antichrist,” my brain was like an erupting volcano. This cover is total fucking devastation. Well, many will say I blaspheme, but POISONED played this track better than MASSACRA themselves.
Ok, I think the POISONED`s part is,stylistically, more uniform, however both bands showed all the good stuff they have, that’s for sure. Arrangement-wise, this material is very mature, it is really powerful, and when I listen to this split, I am really proud there are bands like PERSECUTOR and POISONED these days. Don’tforget these twobands! You`ll hear about them again, that’s for sures LWS