Review by Felix on July 26, 2020.

The split 7” None Shall Escape… is another item of the wealthy discography of Azaghal. Here they cooperate with Sael from France, a band that does not exist anymore. Maybe Sabbath’s Fire Records should not have limited the vinyl on 500 copies. More copies would have been an option to spread the name of Sael far and wide. But be that as it may, here comes copy 356.

Azaghal’s songs is a dark, dull and not really horrifying example of blackest metal. It is characterized by machine gun drumming; abysmal guitar leads and lead vocals that seem to be performed by a voracious monster. The lead guitar creates some spooky moments while a wall of sound is droning in the background, tempo shifts are not missing and even a calm part occurs. A black metal album in just one song! A carefully arranged piece with an intensive ending, not totally exciting, but good.

Sael also do not shy away from silent sequences, neither at the beginning nor in the middle of 'Strychnine'. The song suffers slightly from the stark and stiff snare drumming, but generally speaking, the French devils manage their tasks skillfully. Their outburst of misanthropy could be a leftover from an early Norwegian archive. Grimness and bitterness prevail, and the lead vocalist expresses his agony impressively. It is therefore no wonder that Azaghal and Sael have forged somehow pretty similar contributions to this split, both in terms of style and quality. Good to know, A side or B side - you cannot do much wrong.

Do not expect a high-fidelity sound adventure or any elements from other genres than black metal. Do also not hope for rare jewels that make your life significantly better. Nevertheless, both Azaghal and Sael show a solid performance and good music on black vinyl is always a fine thing, right?

Rating: 7.2 out of 10