Wolfnacht / Goatmoon / Thy Serpent – Split CD (2022)

November 13, 2023

Wolfnacht is not a band that I had heard before this split, but after listening to this a whole bunch of times over the last few months I have to admit that their material is my favourite on this thing. Wolfnacht’s material here is majestic and grandiose, but also with that harsh bite that you want from good black metal. The vocals are rabid and fitting, and additional synth work over the top varies from sounding like 90s CoF to going a bit more “cosmic” in it’s choice of patches and melodies. Great stuff.

Goatmoon’s stuff here seems a bit silly in comparison, with a haunted house piano and vocals that sound like some sort of demented crow squawking over the tunes. An interesting choice, but the songs here sound oddly rigid and stunted for Goatmoon, whose folk-tinged black metal usually has such a free-flowing and natural feel to it.

Thy Serpent is the final band, and it’s around this time is when I tend to lose interest, if I’m honest. Their stuff isn’t particularly bad it’s just Goatmoon and Wolfnacht sound so unique that the slog that is their plodding black metal feels almost like its running at a treacle pace. The production is heavy in the “middle”, which makes the bass guitar shine, and the vocals are really cool when they do kick in, for the most part this final band didn’t really do anything for me. I’m sure they have some full-length work worth checking out though.