SUBMERGE / KARRAS split 7″
Ref: D04
Format: 7″ 33rpm
Release Date: 2002
Quantity: First press, 500 (100 blue, 400 black); Second press, 300 black.
Engineers: Didier Tillit (Submerge), Rodolphe Besnehard (Karras)
Co-Release with Shogun Records
Side A: SUBMERGE: 1. Mental Remains – 2. Breeding Hate Believes In Lies – 3. Germination
Side B: KARRAS: 1. A Croire – 2. Bientôt – 3. Une Croix
« Starting things off, Submerge (France) kicks out three tracks of pummeling material that seems to focus more on rhythm than some of their previous work, dropping a mix of crushing chord progressions and abrasive textures alongside raging vocals and tons of frantic drum fills. They close with a great cover of Bombs of Death’s « Germination », and even though the guitar tone lacks punch in that particular track, they still pull it off. Elsewhere the bass is sort of hard to hear sometimes (though it is more evident in « Breeding Hate Believes in Lies ») and vocals/drums dominate the mix, but the point is still made. Things are slightly raw, but in a good way, and the vocals sound absolutely excellent, almost reminding me of Bloodlet at times. Lyrically things are dark but do have a twisted sense of hope: « I hope to overcome this feeling of disappointment, My remains recoil, Daily passivity to avoid some questions about your destiny, Between dumbness and apathy… » Karras, also from France, throws out another three tracks of similarly punishing hardcore/punk, though their style is more melodic and definitely follows the His Hero is Gone school of writing. I must say I fucking love it, though. I could deal without the occasional dose of melodic Swedish death metal riffing, but the less standard arrangements and chords are incredible. « Une Croix » is a bit faster and uses a lot of quick picking patterns and layers of chords that are more discordant than some of the other tracks, but all three songs are very strong. The mix isn’t too clear, and the tones could use some work, but the raw sound is okay. The vocals are way back in with the music, the drums are really dense, etc. It’s sort of muddy, but with a clearer sound this band would annihilate. All of their lyrics are in French, so I don’t really have any guesses as to what might be going on there. The layout is fucking awesome. The sleeve is done in high contrast black and white with some yellow, and the imagery is really cool. The cover shows a hand holding a lighter, but inside is an incredible illustration of skulls and whatnot that would be more at home in an old Bolt Thrower record than anything. I don’t know who drew it as it seems to be uncredited, but whoever it is should be doing artwork for every crust punk band out there these days! Another strong split from Shogun. I wish Submerge would release a CD of some sort, be it a collection or a full-length, and I’d love to hear more from Karras based on these songs as well. » (Aversionline)
