Anicon / Forest of Tygers – Split 7″ EP (Acteon Records, 03 October 2017)

Hey folks! How’s your day going so far? Got another one here to toss your way: a quick one this time, two different bands with one song each, right around five or six minutes apiece. Both of these — Brooklyn’s Anicon crew, and husband-and-wife team Forest of Tygers from Nashville — have been discussed around here previously, and personally I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve heard from both groups. So naturally it was exciting news when I recently learned that Acteon Records (which is run by the Tygers folks) had put out this split release of brand-new material last month!

Anicon (top) and Forest of Tygers (bottom)

Anicon (whose black metal pedigree is impressive with members who are also involved with NYC bands such as Krallice, Yellow Eyes, and more) will probably be familiar to many readers, as we covered two of their recent releases last year (2015’s brilliant EP Aphasia and follow-up 2016 album Exegeses). Their contribution to this split, “All in Time,” is firmly rooted in traditional black metal, like most of the band’s material, but with some rather creative liberties in the writing and arranging, also like most of their stuff. This particular track fluctuates between more standard black blastbeat fare (with appropriately gruff vocals) and a few sections that veer seamlessly into a jauntier (one might even say bouncier) 6/8 meter, like a mighty warhorse boldly running full-tilt into battle.

Forest of Tygers, on the other hand, may be a new name to some — it’s been three whole years since we’ve checked in with the Tennessean duo of Jim (guitar/vocals) and Rachel (drums) Valosik (on their 2014 debut EP Bruises). To be honest, even I had forgotten how good this band’s music was, so their new song “Mongers” sort of took me by surprise. Dark and brooding during the atmospheric first couple of minutes, and nearly relentless in punishing brutality the rest of the way, this music is much more tangentially related to black metal — pulling in a wide array of other influences. Fast-paced sludge or mid-tempo grind, post-metal with viciously hard-hitting drums, there’s a lot to like here, and the fact that FoT are entering the studio soon to finally put together a full-length record is definitely welcome news. In the meantime, for those who like a little visual stimulation to accompany audio tracks, the band has also produced a short film which is also entitled Mongers:
 

The split EP is available in both digital and 7″ physical formats, both via the label’s Bandcamp page. Enjoy!
 

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http://www.facebook.com/scrapingearthandsky (Anicon Facebook page)
http://anicon.bandcamp.com
http://anicon.bigcartel.com
 
http://forestoftygers.tumblr.com
http://www.facebook.com/forestoftygers
http://twitter.com/forestoftygers
http://forestoftygers.bandcamp.com
 
http://acteonrecords.com
http://www.facebook.com/acteonrecords
http://www.instagram.com/acteonrecords
http://acteonrecords.bandcamp.com
http://acteon.bigcartel.com