A split cassette showcasing two of Belfast’s heaviest, Comply or Die and Slomatics? Yes, please. First up is the downright rampant ‘Vermin’, the only track here by the former, beginning with a blitzkrieg of clattering cymbals and succeeded by a vaguely menacing progression reminiscent of Houdini-era Melvins. Following this, to the definite advantage of the track overall, surfaces an abrupt and fierce breakdown calling to mind a would-be Brant Bjork-led Big Business shimmy – the precise type that, live, could easily induce you to go absolutely apeshit for 30 seconds or so. At the end up, though, after 10 or so minutes and yet another shift in tempo and tone in the guise of some Bad Brains-esque proto-thrash, a reprise of the main riff concludes proceedings. Breakneck stuff.

Next to wreck the proverbial gaff is sludge-metal overlords, Slomatics. Their first of two tracks, ‘Hold The Skull’ – arguably the strongest on the split – evokes the same spirit and weight that largely defined Jus Oborn’s Electric Wizard circa Dopethrone and – as far as the sheer immensity of riffs is concerned – Come My Fanatics. Combine this primal heaviness with purposely unsettling tribal-like chanting and you’re on to a winner. Indeed, between this track and its follow-up, ‘Expert Marksman’, Slomatics seamlessly, instinctively meld Morbid Tales-era Celtic Frost, Die Healing-era Saint Vitus and Dopesick-era Eyehategod to induce a devastating brand of sludge-doom that, in this country at least, has very few rivals indeed. Brian Coney

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

KEY TRACKS: ‘HOLD THE SKULL’, ‘VERMIN’, ‘EXPERT MARKSMAN’.
FOR FANS OF: BIG BUSINESS, MELVINS, ELECTRIC WIZARD.

Get the tape at complyordie.bigcartel.com or slomatics.bigcartel.com
Download at complyordie.bandcamp.com