Desekryptor and Draghkar are both old-school death metal bands from the US, and they have teamed up for this split.

Both bands offer up a single track to this release, with Desekryptor starting us off with The Ceremony of Cleaning Corpses.

With an ancient, cavernous sound, the song bursts from the speakers with macabre atmosphere and daemonic growls. Mouldy and packed with rotten flesh, this is zombified death metal, stalking its prey with untiring focus and nightmarish intensity.

Combining both aggression and grim atmosphere in equally ugly amounts, Desekryptor give a good accounting of themselves on this song. This is pure, zealous worship at the morbid altar of the metal of death.

Draghkar’s contribution – Stealing the Keys to Nothingness – is the band’s first material released since their very enjoyable demo World Unraveled, and sees them delivering a tasty, underground death metal treat.

The track is more energetically aggressive than the band’s demo material, with more of a classic USDM feel to it, albeit one that’s caked in filth and dried blood. It’s an upbeat and studied example of a band knowing their style intimately, and performing it with obvious enthusiasm.

Draghkar continue to show much promise, and I look forward to my next encounter with them.

This is an enjoyable split between two old-school death metal bands that clearly love their chosen style, and can deliver the goods when it comes to it. Make sure you give this a listen.