Nominon/Sabbat (Jap)/Blaspherian - Trident of the Macabre split album

Artist: Nominon/Sabbat (Jap)/Blaspherian
Release Title: Trident of the Macabre split album
Year: 2016
Label: Fallen-Angel Productions
Genre: Swedish Death Metal; Black/Thrash Metal; Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Nominon - Release in Death
2. Nominon - Mountain of Hate
3. Nominon - Son of Doom
4. Nominon - Rigor Mortis
5. Sabbat - The Egg of Dapple
6. Sabbat - Mion's Hill (20th Epic Gezol Version)
7. Sabbat - Splatter
8. Sabbat - Harmageddon
9. Blaspherian - Praising Impurity
10. Blaspherian - In the Shadow
11. Blaspherian - Lies of the Cross
12. Blaspherian - The Blessings of Sanctity Rescinded (Live)

The new split release bringing together Swedish deathsters Nominon, Japanese black/thrash maniacs Sabbat and Texas death metal revivalists Blaspherion on one platter is a wholly enjoyable sampling for each of the bands presented. Released March 5, 2016 on Fallen-Angel Productions, this is one of the more impressive and enjoyable splits in existence.

For Nominon, the name of game is straightforward Swedish death metal and they’re not fooling anyone with the opening notes signaling their intention of paying homage to those greats from the start. Deep, churning chainsaw-flavored grooves and that rattling old-school production are in full-effect and not for a second are dropped throughout here as the up-tempo rhythms are at the forefront of their attack and it’s just simple, straightforward efforts. This straightforward attitude might wear on some, but the competence of their attack more than makes up for it.

The Japanese entity Sabbat, known for their productivity and ardent work-ethic, offers a simplistic and slightly rawer take on the old-school black/thrash style as the central riffing is built around simplistic plodding thrash arrangements with plenty of weirdly-accented vocals that adds a wholly appealing dynamic to their sound. They’re ultra-simplistic and even somewhat sloppy in their arrangements, but those weird vocals over the raw rhythms make it a slightly more appealing take with these creating such a different stylistic take compared to the more death metal-oriented groups surrounding them on the split. The rawness and simplicity might be too much for some to take, but they’ve been around this long for a reason.

Lastly, Blaspherian is a rather curious case with their old-school Incantation-worshipping style that comes straight from their playbook. From the tight, swirling riffing and rather brutal attack, there’s a simplistic approach to their attack that’s given all the more life here based on their production style that effectively matches that dirty, droning style so prominent in that approach. It’s all quite obvious and apparent of this influence as the choppy swirling rhythms and propensity for including sprawling sections of extended laid-back tempos, yet this works for their favor by allowing for plenty of easy-access to their sound by being this familiar to their chosen approach.

The fact that all of the bands have some impressive and stylish work representing them is an impressive enough feat here that on the whole this effort serves as an easy introduction to every one of the bands featured and makes for a highly enjoyable and recommended split anyways.

Score: 85/100

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