HEERVADER / ANCESTOR'S BLOOD [Split]

Heervader / Ancestor’s Blood [Split] (2015, Heidens Hart Records)

Originally announced many years ago as a 7" EP split, this was upgraded to a full length album split, featuring over 20 minutes of unique music for both bands. It was expanded for two reasons: the first for not wanting to split up the three Heervader tracks, as they were originally written and recorded as three songs part of a whole. The second reason was the high quality recordings that were made of Ancestors Blood's last ever live appearance at the 2014 Veneration Of The Dead festival in the Netherlands. Three songs were picked from this magical ritual, as they are way too good to be left on the shelves.

Just as any split record released and reviewed here we are gonna dissect each band’s side. Except when both bands have recorded every song together, in those cases we talk more about collaborations than split records.

The first three songs are performed by Heervader, the distant heirs to Einherjer’s Blot I guess. With a traditional black metal sound that may be linked with early Ulver, Heervader are little known but their music will help them gain a respectable fanbase in the black metal territory. Three songs of pure mastery of the genre and they made me wish for a full release from their part.

On the other side of the split album, Ancestor’s Blood is a more atmospheric Black metal band with a edge for dark metal. Not my cup of tea at first but the songs are well structured and superbly performed. The three live songs are not too live so someone who doesn’t know it would more or less realize it was recorded as live performances. Since I don’t really enjoy live albums, this trio of songs was listenable and the context of recording may give a little extra depth to the songs. This is a genre that sounds very good in a live environment.

So overall, I must say that I made two interesting discoveries in Heervader and Ancestor’s Blood with a penchant for Heervader.

6.6