This is a review of a 3 way split review between Greece/Sweden's Shibalba, Belgium's Dead Man's Hill and Norway's Deathwalk called "The Circular Shades Of the Equinox" which was released by Zazen Sunds and we will start off the review with Shibalba who return with their mixture of ritual and dark ambient.
Their side of the split starts out with some dark soundscapes and ambient style synths while all of their tracks are also very long and epic in length. At times the music also gets very ritualistic sounding along with some melodic chants also being added into some parts of there side of the recording.
Programmed beats are also added into some parts of the songs along with some rain and thunder sounds as well as some ethnic style instruments are also added onto the second track. When spoken word parts and whispers are utilized they also enhance the ritualistic atmosphere of the music and all of the tracks also sound very different from each other and at times the music also gets very experimental sounding. The production sounds very dark while the lyrics cover the Akashic Records, Theosophy and Left hand Path themes.
In my opinion this is another great sounding recording from Shibalba and if you are a fan of dark ambient and ritual, you should check out their side of the split. RECOMMENDED TRACK "Akashic Visions II".
Next up is Dead Man's Hill who returns with a mixture of dark ambient, ritual, goth , drone and neo-classical.
His side of the split starts out with some synths which also brings in elements of dark ambient and neo-classical while the programmed beats also gives the songs more of a militant feeling. When clean vocals are utilized they also add some gothic rock influences onto his side of the recording.
Most of his tracks are also very long and epic in length along with the music also having its ritualistic moments. Atmospheric sounding drones can also be heard in some parts of the music as well as all of the songs also sounding very different from each other and the vocals also have their operatic moments. The production sounds very dark while the lyrics cover Occultism and Left hand Path themes.
In my opinion this is another great sounding recording from Dead Man's Hill and if you are a fan of dark ambient, drone, goth, neo-classical and ritual, you should check out his side of the split. RECOMMENDED TRACK "My Body Is the Universe in The Body".
Next up is Deathwalk a solo project that plays a very sinister and ritualistic form of dark ambient.
His side of the split starts out with dark soundscapes while all 3 of his tracks are also very long and epic in length. Programmed beats can also be heard in some parts of his side of the recording along with the distorted sounding spoken word parts also adding in some touches of black metal into the music.
At times the music also gets very ritualistic sounding along with the songs also adding in some elements of dark ambient. All 3 of his tracks also sound very different from each other as well as adding in some touches of noise and death industrial into certain sections of his music, demonic voices can also be heard briefly. The production sounds very dark while the song themes focus on the O.N.A and sinister traditions of Satanism and the Left Hand Path.
In my opinion Deathwalk are a very great sounding sinister and ritualistic dark ambient solo project and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out his side of the split. RECOMMENDED TRACK "Daemonic Order Procession".
In conclusion I feel this is a very great sounding split and I would recommend it to all fans of the more ritualistic and occult styles of dark ambient. 8/5 out of 10.
