Talsur / Doomcult – Nameless (self-released, 05 April 2019)

Good afternoon! Taking a break from our recent excursion into the wide world of sports, to bring you this recommendation of some music for you to check out!

Released back in April of this year — and brought to my attention by one of the bands involved right around that same time — Nameless is a six-track split album. There are two new compositions apiece by Talsur (a single-member doom band from Penza, sort of near the Russian-Kazakh border) and Doomcult (a single-member doom band from southern Netherlands); and then the remaining two tracks feature each band covering a previously-released song by the other. Dig it!

Talsur‘s songs are very slow, mellow and mellifluous. The vocals here are deep (bassy) and reverby, but again I’m coming back to that word mellifluous. Although the overall tone is rather somber and forlorn, there’s something aesthetically pleasing and … almost uplifting here. For the sake of comparison, one could do worse than to call this “Bell Witch adjacent”; the main difference being that even though there are half as many members here, there are more parts: lead and rhythm guitars in addition to the bass and drums, plus multiple layers of vocals in spots.

The Doomcult cover (“Wrath”) feels a bit heavier and less atmospheric than the two originals, although still plenty reverby and echoey. The vocals are harsher, more growly, and generally speaking there’s almost an industrial quality to this recording. Comparing this with Doomcult‘s original version is a bit like Type O Negative‘s take on “Paranoid.”

The Doomcult half of the split also features a full-band arrangement. Moderately-paced if not altogether up-tempo, these songs feel considerably less funereal than the Talsur material did, and they feature riffs that reside in a central location on the continuum between doom and more traditional heavy metal. Vocally, Doomcult tends a little more toward yelling than singing, often bringing to mind the style utlized in the last verse or two of “I Love the Dead.”

“Waters of Loss” is (oddly enough) a full minute longer than the original Talsur version, although translated into a similar style to the other Doomcult songs — as a result, it ends up sounding a bit more angry than pensive.

* * *

The split record is available on both participants’ Bandcamp pages (see below), which are offering downloads for whatever price you choose. Our recommendation is to grab yourself a copy from each, and that way you can throw both of them a few dollars (or a few euros, or a few hundred rubles, whatever works for you)! And while you’re there, you’d be well-served to dive into the both artists’ back catalogues, especially if (like me) this split is your first exposure to either of them.
 

* * * * * * *

http://vk.com/talsurofficial
http://twitter.com/talsur_doom
http://talsur.bandcamp.com/
 
http://www.facebook.com/doomcultmetal/
http://doomcult1.bandcamp.com/