The Black Metal oriented sub-label of Legs Akimbo, Locust Amber Records, focuses on tape-releases especially, and one of them is the split-tape Odyssey Of The Twelfth Talisman, not the cartoon, yet a recording done by London-based acts Dgorath and Dark Ritual. Both of them are quite young bands that recorded their material in 2014 and 2015. It gets released in an edition of fifty copies, amongst which ten in white and ten in purple (both of them with an alternative cover), and the rest (thirty pieces) in a ‘regular’ black edition.
Side A opens with three compositions by Dgorath which were recorded during 2014. Foreshadows The Inflicted starts with an intro rather Noise-Ambient directed, but pretty soon the band shows its teeth – teeth dripping of blood, covered with fragments of meat and maggots. Dgorath bring very fast and up-tempo Thrash-edged Black Metal with an old school attitude, leaving no room for compromises. Despite the harsh performance, the tracks come with a subtle melodic execution, giving a great counterbalance to the merciless double drum eruptions, grinding rhythms and blood-spitting grunts.
One remark, however, and it has to do with the sound quality. The production is quite labile, too much beneath professionalism, and therefore these (great) compositions lack of what they deserve: eternal glory. So let’s conclude with a good advice and beg for a better production result in case there will be a next effort. The intentions are great (despite the lack of originality, but once again: WTFFF)… 7/10
Side B of Odyssey Of The Twelfth Talisman brings two creations by Dark Ritual. This stuff brings back the grandeur of the Nordic Second Wave trend (damn, I do detest the word ‘trend’), combining epic melodies with fierce and speed-up energy and obscure layers of darkness – and when talking about the latter, well, I think the use of church bells, occult melodies, ultra-cold screams and haunting keyboard lines might say quite a lot…
But here too, I think the production quality totally sucks. It’s a pity, even a shame. Has it to do with my personal copy? Actually, I do hope so, but I’m afraid all copies are inferior in sound. …something to keep in mind… With a better production, this part sound have achieved a score ‘beyond’ expectations, but unfortunately it does not. Yet then again, the song writing and execution are just sublime, so I will be so kind to adapt my (totally subjective and personal) score… 8/10