What do we get when a former grindcore act from Germany teams up with a blackened doom band from France for a split? Right! We do NOT get sunlight!
Sleazebag and Peine Kapital released a three-song, 22-minute split back in February and man, the three songs are definitely quite captivating, because one can hear the projects‘ respective roots.
Sleazebag opens the split with two songs - “III and “IV“ – which combine for eleven minutes and if you listen to the opening of “III“ you can witness a hardcore or metalcore seemingly going into breakdown, that notion is even supported by the short growl. And indeed, Sleazebag‘s roots are that of a one-man-grindcore-project, however nothing of the former speed has been retained apart from the aforementioned liking for hardcore breaks and meltdowns. But when Mirko, the guy behind Sleazebag, witnessed a change in musical taste, his project followed suit and turned into a kind of Sludge/D-Beat/Doom-act. When you think of the sometimes flurry, shaking nature of grindcore, the way the strings stir even after that initial riff is out – there is some semblance to doom and in that aspect, his musical development can be seen as quite a natural one.
Based in Straßbourg, France, Peine Kapital then follow with one track only “L’ivoire / l’ébène / la foudre” – man, what a track! Eleven minutes of pure musical dribblings and high-voltage-charges. When the track opens, everyone will surely hear the drums beat similarly to the infamous drum break in “In The Air Tonight“ - what happened? Did Phil Collins all of a sudden turn metal? Or mental? Because the rising bass and noise in the background shows us that this is not said song which has been airplayed to death. This blackened hardcore song in the vein of Sutekh Hexen or other noise-inspired doom bands is a whole block of pure, unrefined hatred! You can see that in the sheer terror their vocals spread and also when you take the time to (rudimentary) translate lines like “La haine de l’autre est notre fardeau / Victime et bourreau, victimes et bourreaux / Quand le sang coule à flot / Quand parle le couteau.“: “The hate of the other is our bruden / Victim and henchman, victims and henchmen / When the blood flows in streams / When speaking with knives” Yes, this is hate and misanthropy! In some ways the band shows that sometimes we can only stand back and watch the world burn itself. In that aspect their socially and politically charged music works very well with that of Sleazebag because there is also a political message behind those tracks.
After listening to this split you might not have witnessed the birth of something new, no. After listening to Sleazebag and Peine Kapital you surely have no reason to smile, no. But after listening to these three songs, you might have two more bands to keep an eye out on. And after listening to these 22 minutes you should have cleansed yourself emotionally. Thank you, guys!
