Country: Lithuania

Genre: Dark Ambient

Record Label: Ledo Takas

Release Date: 2007

Track list:
Luctus
1. World of Blades 04:21
2. Filthy Blood, Guts and Shit 03:41
3. Uz Lietuva! 03:31
4. Don't Sign the Armistice 04:04
5. Age of Decadence 03:39
6. No Future [for Your Future] 06:16
Argharus
7. Nusiramink pries Audra 06:08
8. Pasauktas Delcios 05:09
9. Zvaigzdes Aukstybej Uzges 03:50
10. Nieksas 05:59

Total playing time 46:32

Band Website: Luctus / Agharus

Luctus / Agharus Split - Sonitus Caeli Ardentis 

Split albums have always been a great idea, whether they're used to package two demos together and give a number of related bands some exposure, or pairing a lesser known band with an underground favourite, or just two well-respected bands teaming up for the hell of it. In this particular case it's two relatively new acts from the small and still largely obscure Lithuanian scene shoved into the limelight by Ledo Takas Records. The results are a bit mixed in this case, since Luctus pretty much carries this split by itself with Argharus coming off even less original than it already is, but I'll get into that can of worms later on.

The Italian based but from origin Lithuanian Luctus opens proceedings with such a vicious assault of riffs that thirty seconds after the opening volleys you'll be picking yourself up off the floor wondering what the hell just drove over you. Luctus plays highly aggressive black metal with a thrash aesthetic that reminds me most of Polish acts like Selbstmord, Mgla and Kriegsmachine. Cool thing here is that structurally they play like a hard hitting thrash band, while the actual riffs themselves are mostly second wave black metal, resulting in quickly alternating volleys of tremolo riffs and powerchords hitting you in the face backed up by a supremely technical gattling-gun drummer and the vocalist and main man Luctus shouting about war and destruction. No sappy melodies here, just chaos and death! While Luctus may not be the most original entity on the planet, such well-done black-thrash doesn't come around all that often, and really, originality or no, this stuff slays. [7.5]

Argharus doesn't fare nearly as well though. They follow a droning second wave motif patterned after De Mysteriis and Under a Funeral Moon (mostly the former) and any band playing in that style needs some goddamn tight riffs to have any relevance whatsoever. Unfortunately, we've all heard these riffs before and they drone along in such an anemic manner that all the power is just drained out of them. Like I said above, coming right after the invigorating Luctus makes Argharus sound even less impressive, especially since Luctus has a noticeable eastern European vibe going for them, while Argharus sound like any Norse-aping band on the planet. There's little else to say here, if you've heard Mayhem and their horde of imitators, you've heard this. It's not bad, per se, but when it sounds like a lesser version of Mayhem, why bother listening to it instead of Mayhem. It's redundant. [5.0]

So, is this worth it? I'd say mostly yes. You'll get over twenty-five minutes of Luctus (about as long as your average Gorgoroth record), as well as the knowledge that in Lithuania they like the early Norwegian scene as much as the rest of the world.

August 25th, 2008