Review by Felix on May 9, 2019.

A few days ago, I read the following statement: "true greatness of the split recording lies not in the simple addition of two bands of mutual respect and admiration, but much more so in the ability to merge those qualities into something that truly stands on its own merits". Well, I am no expert for "true greatness", but sometimes I can identify true nonsense very quickly and this quote falls exactly in this category. So, it makes more sense to speak about the content of the here selected album than to lose many words about its format.

Behexen's songs profit from a better sound than those of Horna and so I begin with the contribution of the spiritual fathers of immortal classics such as "Fist of the Satanist". Too bad that their three songs with a remarkable duration of nearly 22 minutes cannot compete with giants like the aforementioned song from "By the Blessing of Satan". The dudes present the typical approach and the results are convincing, no more, no less. The tempo changes ensure an acceptable degree of dynamic, some icy guitar lines show up and the rumbling overall approach explains the general view of the band on black metal in a matter of minutes. "Beyond the Shadow of My Lord" is a little bit too long, but it houses some very dark instrumental parts, full of power, strength and hellish flair. Not to mention the opening riff of "A Distant Call from Darkness". It carries the group through the entire song and shows that Behexen are probably the most competent black metal force from Suomi. (77%).

The contribution of Horna seems to be recorded underwater, in a stinking bin or in a sound studio without functioning microphones. Everything sounds dull, flat and blurred. This affects the impact of the compositions inevitably. Their sinister scenarios remain vapid and, to be honest, the riffing also does not reveal overwhelming skills. Albums like "A Blaze in the Northern Sky" or "Under a Funeral Moon" have already been written and therefore I have to question the motivation of Horna to publish similar tunes in a similar sound. However, if one can't get enough of raw black metal in a low budget frame, feel free to enjoy Horna's four pieces on this split. Yet in my humble opinion, they have much better tunes (55%). 

In a nutshell, it's a partially strong split, but "true greatness" is missing here. Both formations show their solidarity with the real underground, to express it in a positive way. That indicates a laudable mentality, but it does not make the songs themselves more valuable. So, check out whether or not it makes sense for you to become familiar with this work.

Rating: 6.6 out of 10

Review by Fran on June 15, 2021.

Goat Rider's first release was rock solid and well executed, taking into account it was performed by a duo that managed to record everything (drums, bass, guitars and vocals) on their own. For this demo they hired a proper drummer and stepped up their game, rhythmically speaking. It's not like the drum tracks from the first album were bad at all; but on this offering dynamics are more stable, drum fills are a little bit more creative and there's even a small blast beat section at the end of track 3, 'Satanic Speed Samurai'. There are also some ultra fast double bass drum sections that weren't present on High Speed From Hell.

This demo consists of 4 tracks, 'Kamikaze' and 'Satanic Speed Samurai' are traditional Goat Rider songs, accelerated black/thrash with hints of hardcore punk. 'Harakiri At WWII' features a different approach to riffing, slower and heavier. It reminds me of 'Countess Bathory', the influence they get from Venom's first couple of albums is very strong. 'Katana' is also contrasting to the fast numbers we usually get from these kids but this time, instead of being slower and gloomy or heavier they experimented with a laid back, traditional rock and roll style riffing in the first couple of minutes. There's a lot of NWOBHM on Goat Rider even if their main genre is more extreme.

In terms of production; they also managed to get a wet mix with some reverb that sounds still rough but a little bit more professional perhaps. Vocals remain as aggressive as always, high pitched shrieks like Quorton's. The reverb driven production kind of made them more cavernous and hellish, while they intelligently avoided falling into the illegible pit of Portal/Incantation imitations that pollulate nowadays. The guitar tone is raw amp distortion, and there are some nice licks and solos thrown here and there. The bass is not as prominent as it was on their first recording but you can find it pounding on the back, anchoring the drums with the guitars. This album is as lethal as a Harakiri, give it a spin right away!

Rating: 8.8 out of 10