Review by Carl on February 16, 2023.

Cro-Mags, the insanely influential NYHC band with the soap opera level of history behind it. I knew the stories from early on, but it would take until the mid 90's before I got my first taste of their music in the form of "Best Wishes", and it blew me away. Album opener "Death Camps" alone sounded as if it could level a skyscraper, and I got into them big time. "Age of Quarrel", "Alpha Omega" and "Near Death Experience" would follow soon after, and when I heard a new album was in the pipes with Harley and Parris teaming up, I was stoked.

At the time, I was pretty disappointed by it. Not because the music was that bad, but the fact that all five songs of the White Devil EP (that I already owned) were on here in barely different versions left me with only seven actually new cuts. It gave this album a bit of a bitter aftertaste that kept hanging around for a long, long time, until I dug it up again recently and had to conclude that this is actually a solid offering of metallic hardcore.

Musically speaking, it is classic Cro-Mags for the biggest part. The powerful uptempo music, blazing guitar leads and characteristic vocals of Harley all could have been on their early classics with ease. The band combines punked-up thrash with solid New York hardcore, and pours this concoction in short, solid bursts of energy, with a level of musicianship and writing skills that a lot of other bands can only dream of. The furious anger and discontent that emante from the lyrics and execution of the music is almost tangible, and you can hear that Cro-Mags are out for blood here. Just listen to tracks like "Tore Up" and "Premeditated", and you will hear a band that is genuinely pissed-off and ready to lay down vengeance on all who wronged them. You can hear that this is no act, someone is about to get hurt. Or so it sounds anyway.

Not all of the songs sound this vicious, however. In tracks like "My Life" and "Jones", Cro-Mags pull the West Coast punkrock card way too obvious for my taste. Some rare exceptions aside, that style of music never tingled my Jimmy at all. To me, that stuff in general always had a beachblanket feel to it, and it takes the 'oomph' out of the music big time when these tracks come by. Between the pulsating aggression of the more hardcore stuff, these tracks sound way too chipper for my taste.

After the dubious business move of recycling the White Devil tracks and the uneven balance between the heavier songs and the oddly melodic stuff, there is one last thing that drove the undies right up my crack, and that is the tribal drumming part at the end of the album. Now, I know that stuff was the shit throughout a big part of the 90's: Sepultura scored big with it, and others like Overdose, Soulfly and Laberinto got on the wagon with gusto too, but I never really cared for it. Allow me to explain: in Belgium we have this festival with its focus on world music, and in my late teens/early twenties I did security there for a few years, so just believe me when I say I have heard enough of that stuff to last me a lifetime.

But do I consider this a bad album? Hell no! It has recently grown on me considerably, actually. The White Devil stuff was for most part the same guys who recorded this album, so in a way it makes sense. Kinda. It is still a cheap move, but it is what it is, right? The punk stuff does somewhat make sense in the big picture too, with the heavy material being more than solid enough to keep it all convincing throughout. The great production job helps too, of course. And the tribal part at the end, you ask? That's why the skip button exists, simple as that.

"Revenge" may not be of the legendary status of their first couple of albums, but an embarassment this isn't either, no way. Perhaps a bit flaky in places, but I've heard way worse from the infamous New York hardcore scene, that's for sure.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Review by Felix on November 8, 2022.

Does it make any sense to deny the obvious? To say "it's not what it looks like?" when you are caught having sex with someone else by your own partner? I think it's better to tell the full truth right away. That's why I'm admitting it right now, at the beginning of this review: the more I know from Mavorim, the more I'm on the way to becoming a fanboy.

The band’s contribution to this split is excellent. I agree that the intro is not very relevant, but the three regular songs impress with their close-to-perfection approach. No, Mavorim do not show the harshest black metal approach and their guitars avoid any hint of iciness. So climate change has at least partially reached black metal. But their compositions inspire with a flawless flow. Apart from the one or other acoustic break, the driving character of the pieces leaves nothing to be desired - and of course the breaks are also quite skilfully set. In addition, few but highly efficient riffs unfold. The one of 'All Meine Seelen' immediately takes the listener on an overwhelming journey after the atmospheric intro. The mighty force of such pieces can only be broken by those who are able to stop a moving train by sheer force of will, but I honestly don't know many people with that ability.

Yes, there are some moody keyboards to find here. They send discreet greetings from someone far away, he calls himself Rob Darken. Nevertheless the guitars and the throaty (and in rare moments clean) voice shape a sound which has not much in common with that of Graveland – just to avoid misunderstandings. Along the way, Mavorim show how to build a song perfectly. From the first notes of the warm, soulful guitar to the highly intense double bass whipped rhythms before the first verse, 'Ein Fluch Ward Uns Geschenkt' ascends in an ingenious way (and its metaphorical lyrics are also great). I don't know in which book with seven seals you can read this, but Mavorim have a phenomenal feeling for melodies and for how much space you have to give them. Their harmonies reflect aggression, melancholy, despair and triumph. And it certainly seems unimaginative when I string together one praise after another, but the coherence of the individual pieces also makes me dream of the black metal paradise. So we get three fantastically designed songs, competently produced (without dirt, but always with an uncomfortable undertone) and masterly executed. From my point of view, 'Ein Fluch Ward Uns Geschenkt' marks the best part of this triumvirate, but 'Tod Und Teufel' and 'All Meine Seelen' also hit the bull’s eye. So it’s 90% for Mavorim who show some lazy guys in the global scene that it is possible to release high quality music every year. (Lord Ahriman, Demonaz, do you sleep well?)

Ad Mortem? Oh, that's right, they're still around. And how! They are closer to the typical style of the subgenre. As soon as the intro ends, their guitars embody brutality, the machine-like drums praise Lucifer and the performance of the lead vocalist indicates that his circle of friends is rather small. The vile melodies are not completely on the Mavorim level, but still (very) good. The same applies for the mix. It is less differentiated, the single instruments are not quite cleanly defined, but I write about black metal and not about the lullaby at the annual overnight party in the kindergarten. Nose closed when picking up your child the next morning!

Ad Mortem love to take a bath in extremely murderous sections. For example, 'Schwarzes Blut (Excitium I)' has some mega-intensive parts. No doubt, if you play this song in Eastern Europe in front of one of these numerous, larger-than-life monuments to communist “martyrs”, they crumble to dust in minutes. But I guess this action would bring you directly to the next dungeon – and this leads me directly to the short yet homicidal “Kerker” (= dungeon), another brutal, straight and prisoners-hating eruption. Forgive me, but once again, I do not identify any filler here. Entirely the opposite. While I take the precaution of writing Ad Mortem's first long-playing record, not yet published, on my shopping list, the horde from Saxony skilfully rushes through the back areas of their self-created hell. A little Grabak, a little Vargsang, why not? The calm outro provides enough room to rest. 80% for Ad Mortem, who turn out to be a worthy partner of Mavorim – and this says a lot.

To sum up, this split shows two different styles of black metal and this is a good thing. Mavorim and Ad Mortem are crossing the blades and the listener is the winner. Two very similar bands do not need to join forces in order to release a split that leaves a more homogeneous overall impression than a typical Graveland or Bolt Thrower album. Given this double strike, German black metal patriots can be proud of the Teutonic scene and now I leave. I have to listen to Iudicium Ultimum again, naturally in total darkness to avoid any form of distraction.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10