Review by Fran on February 25, 2026.

Paganus Doctrina’s side of this split, “Ascesis Al Uno Primigenio”, consists of one track that stops at the 22-minute mark. Lyrics are written in Spanish; they follow a satanic concept, but in terms of composition, there isn't really any theme repetition between the different movements presented, so they sound like different songs in a regular EP. Nothing wrong with that. The band's style is black metal with some thrash and death metal elements thrown in and keyboard interludes, mainly between movements and some choruses. The riffing style reminds me of Sarcófago, Mystifier, and some Hellhammer, maybe, but the tempo is very fast almost all the time. The quality of the recording is raw, but it lets you capture the idea and doesn't strip the music of its evil aura and heaviness, pure old school brilliance.

Songwriting is clever and efficient; tunes sound as tetric as intended, even the organ interludes. These passages are dark as well, but calm and let the album breathe, giving a nice contrast. Blast beat sections on the drums are totally relentless; their timing is the only improvement point the record has, though. Harmonic tension is something they do great with the guitars and keyboards; there are melodic guitar lines and some arpeggios, but all in all, riffs tend to be a high-pitched demonic frenzy, super fast and heavy. Vocals are at the front in the mix, and for good reason, they sound amazing. High-pitched but super deep and rotten at the same time, Attila would be proud. The volume of the drums is also kind of high on the mix, but you can still hear the riffs in the back, quintessential production of that era.

Regarding Sinistrous Necromantika, "Pseudostratiffied Epithelium"’s side of this split, it leans completely towards death metal. Vocals are deeper and more guttural, riffing is more bassy overall. The production is harsher than on the other side, but it's still listenable, and you can notice the same mixing nuances of extreme metal recordings from that era. Another aspect it shares with the first side of the split is that every song is preceded by an intro track; for example, the opening is a nice acoustic arpeggio, and another intro track is just hellish screams/whispers, etc. There are some violin leads decorating 'Romantic Passions In Rigor Mortis' and 'Out Of The Grace Of God' that help to build a solemn aura without being overly melodic.

That being said, there’s a strong classical music influence in Mauricio Baltodano’s work, who is the band’s main songwriter. You know it's death metal when you hear it because of the presentation of the material, but you can’t really point out any other band (not even the death metal pioneers from the USA) as a direct influence in the riffing, and that is what I like the most about Pseudo: the originality and the freshness. Almost 30 years later, these songs are still strong and super interesting. Overall, the band’s sound is raging and obscure like Paganus Doctrina despite the difference of genres; they share a fervent passion you hardly see in modern-day bands. Pseudostratiffied Epithelium and Paganus Doctrina are Costa Rican extreme metal pillars, and this album came right after both bands released their first demos; you can say it was their most serious work to date. I’d recommend this album to anyone willing to better understand incipient extreme metal in Central America.

Rating: 8 out of 10