Review by Felix on December 15, 2023.

Are Azaghal immortal? Well, after 25 years in business they have reached at least a little of immortality, right? On this split called Immortalized In Luciferian Blood, they come up with three pieces of which the second is the most unusual. 'Kaikki Kuolevat Yksin' starts like a kind of dark rock song with deep, very controlled lead vocals. More or less typical diabolic black metal vocals show up at the end, but they do not characterize the song. The same goes for its partly pretty furious center part. Given this, the song is more or less a surprise in the opulent portfolio of the Finnish legend.

Their remaining tracks break in like a blizzard. I prefer 'Ikuisuus Huutaa Hiljaa', because the opener suffers a bit from its stop-and-go guitar lines. No big deal, but nuances make the difference in a challenging competition. Anyway, 'Paholaisen Musta Kieli' scores with expressive, tragic guitar lines before a thundering high-speed section brings the song to its end. The already mentioned final track of Azaghal has the potential to drive you insane. Its menacing riffs create a cloudy, grey sky before your inner eye, the merciless speed of the drums and the murderous guitar work ensure a hellish density and so the listener cannot ignore a voice in his head which gets louder and louder, saying: “Black metal is the real thing”. True.

To me, Black Faith from Italy were a blank slate so far. Nevertheless, they are no newcomers and their songs shine with coherence and a good flow. By the way, 'Lesser God' flows directly into the next track which welcomes the listener with extremely memorable, profoundly heavy riff. This opening is as wonderful as Italian food, if I am not mistaken. Generally speaking, Black Faith also transport a truly discomforting mood. Okay, this can be expected on a black metal split album, but it is definitely surprising that the Italians do not stand in the shadow of Azaghal. The slightly robotic voice does not appear as the optimal solution for the lead vocals, but they are still good and I do not see any other weak points.

Just like their partners from the cold North, the (only) two dudes of Black Faith commute between fairly melodic parts and apocalyptic shredding. 'Cold Fire Of The Soul' shows both facets impressively without making it impossible to decode the songs. It is rather easy to get access to the tracks. It would be not fair to call some sections of their songs primitive. Nevertheless, sometimes the Italians sound like the black metal edition of At War (and I hope you remember this thrash band with an affinity for rather simple structures)... Conclusion - despite this successful cooperation, neither Black Faith nor Azaghal are immortal. However, this split increases their glory. Six well produced tracks from two churlish formations are always a reason to feel good, especially if they lead you very close to the sinister core of the sub-genre. And exactly that’s the case here.

Rating: 8 out of 10