Review by Michael on October 24, 2024.

With the fourth studio album German black-deathers The Spirit are leaving the cosmic void (at least album cover-wise) and instead of that, they move into a quite mystical cover with a god (maybe) on its front holding a moon in his hands praising their new album Songs Against Humanity. Besides, this one was created by Eliran Kantor who these days is one of the busiest and most popular cover art designers it seems.

Apart from the cover artwork changes, there are just slight nuances in the sound that the duo from the Saarland did here. Where Of Clarity and Galactic Structures were quite challenging in some parts when it came to the rhythmic sections, the songs here are more straightforward and not so bulky. The opener 'Against Humanity' for instance is a very catchy and accessible track with a lot of fury and hatred. Matthias' vocals are relentless and full of bitterness and with every single letter, he spits out some misanthropic feelings. They once started as some kind of Dissection worship, they are nowadays far away from this like Pluto being a real planet. Of course, the melodic approach is still caught in the songs but the stylistic direction went more to death and sometimes even doom and reminds strongly of the first Paradise Lost album like 'Room 101' which refers to George Orwells 1984 and is “is the basement torture chamber in the Ministry of Love, in which the Party attempts to subject a prisoner to their own worst nightmare, fear or phobia, with the objective of breaking down their final resistance” according to Wikipedia. Nice topic for songs against humanity, I would say. Here and there you still get the black metal vibes out of the music, like in 'Death Is My Salvation' which has some really cool epicness and a lot of Bathory vibes Quorthon spread in a song like “A Fine Day To Die” and might be some homage to them. Not only Bathory was some kind of blueprint here but also some more progressive death bands like Atheist or Obscura were surely some influential sources for the songwriting and V. Santura (ex-Dark Fortress, Tryptikon) contributed a guitar solo and some additional bass lines on that song, too. But mostly the songs are like rapid fire, just check 'Spectres Of Terror'. The drums are super thundering and the riffs cut like a piano wire through a harmless victim's throat. And again, over all this harsh music Matthias' rough vocals give the songs a certain flair.

What is remarkable is the length of some of the songs. Where their compositions on the previous albums had a running of maximum seven minutes, they now expanded the length to over eight minutes. And what makes it even more remarkable – you don't recognize that because the songs are smartly composed and there is nothing that might be cut off in the seven tracks.

The production is just like the previous ones executed very well-balanced and clear and I guess it isn't the biggest surprise that the already mentioned V. Santura engineered and mixed the album. Good job, man! But also from the main composer Matthias Trautes who was accompanied by a demon and was disrupted by agony during the writing process (according to the booklet).

Rating: 9 out of 10

Review by Felix on December 10, 2023.

Here we finally get a split whose cover makes sense. The involved bands are depicted by the two creatures. The taller guys embodies Norrhem, because they are the leading force here and he who has the scythe is the boss, right? But of course, the smaller dude is important as well. He stands for Sielunvihollinen and looks like a trainee, but I don’t think that his only duty is to taje care for enough beer in the fridge.

Either way, Norrhem kick off the album and one song of their triple strike stands out, 'Huokaavat Kentät' marks a fantastic example of Scandinavian black metal the way it should be. Here we find elements of Northern melancholy as well as a heavy and robust foundation, and a silent intro leads to a more and more intensive number. The guitars play enchanting yet ominous melodies, decently flickering keyboards accompany the six strings, drums and the naturally raw voice. Equipped with the perfect length of eight minutes, the strength of the song emerges more and more and even an almost emotional break with soft guitars does not hurt its fascination. With more songs of this quality, Norrhem will catapult themselves among the top ten black metal bands from Suomi – and we all know the endless rows of competitors in this cold country.

The further tracks of Norrhem also make it easy to enjoy the invention of black metal. The dudes show their competence in writing powerful, stormy compositions. The very well accentuated interplay of keyboards and guitars is exciting and the main reason for the glorious impact of these tracks that are almost as good as the aforementioned highlight. By the way, I may not forget to mention the lively, vigorous and dense sound that makes the performance of Norrhem complete.

The mix of Norrhem’s companions is slightly weaker, the guitars sound a bit flat. But it’s not only the production which makes Sielunvihollinen pick the shorter straw in comparison with their partners in black metal. If this split has a weak song, it is unfortunately their first one. Its melody does not really catch the morbid beauty of the genre. Nevertheless, Sielunvihollinen, who have recorded their first demo five years earlier than Norrhem, do not totally fail here, by far not. The first sequences of the epic 'Löi Sodan Viikattet' are the most violent segments of the entire split and its guitar lines make Behexen fans forget that a new album of their heroes is overdue. But 'Löi Sodan Viikattet' has, in order to justify its excessive length, many different sides and a sequence with a wistful guitar melody is just one of them. Okay, the sheer insanity gains the upper hand again, but I am almost sure you will be surprised about the second half of the track. I don’t want to give too uch away here, check it out – not only this song but the whole album. 8.6 for Norrhem and 7.2 for Sielunvihollinen result in a very solid overall rating.

Rating: 8.6 out of 10