Primitive Man & Hell - Split

Another year, another Primitive Man split, though when I think of bands who are constantly doing split releases or collaborations, I tend to not think quite as positively as I do when I think of Primitive Man. Their split with Unearthly Trance last year was pretty sick, and I’m pretty psyched to see them teaming up with a band I discovered in 2017, Hell, whose terrifying blend of cavernous black metal and apocalyptic doom makes their name well-deserved. As surprised as I was to see these two together, their presence on one record is just and fitting; much of what I loved about the self-titled Hell album in 2017 I also loved about Primitive Man’s Caustic from that same year. Both artists take an overwhelmingly bleak, abusive approach to metal and through different angles, Primitive Man the more violently assertive and Hell the more subtly suggestive, push their audiences toward the same kind of realm of hopeless nihilism. Why spend time in that kind of depressive musical realm? For me, it’s a reminder of what hard truths in life need to be faced rather than shied away from, as well as a reminder that I am very fortunate to be in a place where I can dip into such territory and not feel like it’s such a real representation of my life that it’s too abusive for me. I’m thankful my life isn’t the worthless pile of shit that a Primitive Man song details. Plus, it’s fucking heavy.

Anyway, it’s a pretty short split at just over twenty-two minutes with only three songs in total: the first two from Primitive Man and the third from Hell. But the bands certainly do make the most of their short time together on opposite sides of the same disc. Primitive Man starts the album off with the filthy, eviscersting roller coaster of sludgy death that is “Oily Tears”, which is certainly nothing new for Primitive Man, but they have such a way with this sound now, that the little twists they apply to it, like the gnarly black metal gargles and the delicious bass riff groove that shows up about halfway through. For as stylistically unsurprising as it is, the band do so well to bring a lot of dynamic to what can often be misconceived as one-dimensional. For those who may have written Primitive Man off as just that, this should be the song that turns that perception around. The second of the band’s two songs, “Pitiful & Loathsome”, takes things a little more consistently slowly, and works as a more doom-flavored slow march of death to serve a fitting dirge to transition into Hell’s side of the split.

The album is closed by the one song Hell brings to the table, which is the nearly ten-minute burner, “Nuumen”, which sounds very much in line with what was on the self-titled album about two years ago: tormented black metal screams, eerie dissonant clean guitar lines, and well-distorted doom guitar marches over trudging drums and tastefully rumbling bass lines. It’s much more of a darkly meditative number than the two Primitive Man cuts, and one that takes its time to ebb and flow, and it certainly accomplishes its intended purpose of providing an uncomfortable, ominous atmosphere. I feel like it could have used a few more surprises, being that it’s basically a standalone song for Hell, but it does what it needs to, and I enjoyed it quite well enough.

Overall, I was rather pleased with this split and glad these two gelled as well on a single release as I thought they could. I think Primitive Man took a bit more of the cake thanks to “Oily Tears”, but both bands provided a good couple of songs that fit well together and flow well. I’m hoping this year has more in store for both of these artists, possibly an LP from one or the other, if not both. My body is ready, and this will keep me eager until whatever is next.

cute couple/10