Published: November 7, 2017

(Mini-review)

Ah Ciliz is yet another duo from the land of carbs, and boy do they throw a happy marinara sauce over everything! A stereotypical-bell-cutting-through-wind theme kicks off the split before bursting into one of those uncommonly upbeat black metal tremolos. Minus the fluffy vocals, I get a strong Astronoid vibe from them. The drumming could be a little tighter, but the gritty vocals and melodic guitar play off each other in a really fun way. The songs don’t really progress, but the riffs are so dang catchy and memorable that it doesn’t even matter. The second track would be a nice melodic break during a full-length but is a little odd on this short split. I’ll be keeping an eye out for new Ah Ciliz, that’s for sure.

Chiral is a one-man band doing a strangely similar thing. It’s a really well-paired split. While the guitar just shreds through high-notes, he uses some electronics to build the theme. Sometimes spooky and sometimes technical, they are the most memorable sections of the tracks due to their unexpectedness.