Funeral Whore/Obscure Divinity – Summon the Undead – Split (Review)

Funeral Whore are from the Netherlands and Obscure Infinity are from Germany. Both bands play Old-School Death Metal.

Funeral Whore start proceedings with two tracks. Traces of Death begins with a menacing riff and an intimidating growl. At this point I know it’s going to be good.

Ultra-low vocals preside over the top of a slow and evil riff before the band become a bit more mid-paced and heavier guitars start playing. The song merges elements of Bolt Thrower and Incantation to create an enjoyable track.

The second track East Area Rapist has a killer Old-School riff that shows the band has an ear for a good tune. Stylistically we’re in the same territory as the first song although this one has a bit more melody and chugs along happily as the drums roll and the vocals make deep, dark noises.

After these we have Obscure Infinity with the song Maniac Destroyer. In contrast to Funeral Whore’s side, Obscure Infinity have a stronger production and more of an immense feel.

Maniac Destroyer has blastbeats and is a more upbeat proposition overall. A touch of the Swedish Death Metal feel is on the track, (sans That Sound), and the deep vocals punctuate the thick guitars like giant exclamation marks.

Obscure Infinity are like a shot of adrenaline and their track has all of the requisite components of a winner. The main riff is excellent and gives me the same thrilling feeling as when I was first getting into this type of music oh so long ago. One of my favourite parts of the song is the solo section with the rhythm guitars just laying down some excellent backing riffs.

A fine taster for a fine couple of underground bands. For the length this is damn near essential I’d say.