Infernal War/Kriegsmaschine – Transfigurations (2011)

Usually when we get split albums it means that a label or two bands are trying to push substandard (read: mediocre) music that is never good enough for a full-length release. In “Transfigurations” we find that this is not the case since Infernal War and Kriegsmaschine are two promising Black Metal bands in the Polish BM scene and they are trying to get their stuff out there, and “Transfigurations” it-self is not a bad split at all.

Infernal War starts off the split with their clear and evil brand of Black Metal that while not revolutionary or anything, it is quite effective in creating crushing songs. With “Primal Degradation” the band sets up the tone for their ‘side’ of the split with a raw and crushing sound that will put all doubters to rest. This song features a hefty amount of powerful riffs, brilliant production and super tight drumming that ask nothing from any of the ‘famous’ Black Metal acts.

“Into the Vortex of Naugh” sounds a slower-paced side to Infernal War, but is equally crushing and effective as the other two songs. While there is not enough ‘rawness’ in the band’s atmosphere we can note that their production and technical abilities are over what a run-of-the-mill Black Metal band can achieve. Closing off with “Incipit Chaos”, Infernal War shows that they can create catchy BM songs that are worthy of a non-stop head banging marathon thanks to the excellent guitar work.

Kriegsmaschine opens up their ‘side’ of the split with a more raw and ‘groovy’ approach to Black Metal, using a very dirty production (that still sounds good) “Onward Destrudo” marks a clear change between them and Infernal War. In this track we get a raw and destructive feeling to their music and some melodic elements that are found in ‘less brutal’ genres, making them a interesting band to pay attention to.

Closing of the split we have “Fear and Loathing in Gethsemane” a very solid song that starts off very rhythmically and gradually increases into full-blown brutality and chaos. Here is where we think the mixing of the drums gets a bit annoying, but with the convoluted nature of this song, we completely dig it.

In general, both bands in “Transfigurations” present us with solid songs. We can only imagine that their previous full-length albums were as good or even more than these songs, making them very interesting bands from Poland to listen to in the future. We like Infernal War in the sense that they are a very good sounding band (in terms of production and musicianship) and while not original at all, they bring all their weapons to the table. Kriegsmaschine on the other hand is a bit more disorganized, but sounds fresh enough to keep us listening and unraveling the mysteries of their crushing sound.

Release: January 24th, 2011 (UK) / February 15th, 2011 (USA)

Country: Poland