Process of Guilt / Rorcal Split

Process of Guilt and Rorcal are somewhat dissimilar; the former is doomy and inexorable, the latter fast and noisy, always on the attack. But despite the difference in their musical genres, there is something inherently pleasing about a split of such different, yet equally dark, musical groups. This is a limited-release vinyl split, but on my promo version, which is composed of MP3s, Process of Guilt's crushing slow burn builds up to Rorcal's blast of rage. Both do an excellent job on this split. Both bands also link their songs; Process of Guilt's tracks are titled Liar, consisting of three movements, while Rorcal's are titled simply IX, X, and XI. If one starts with the Process of Guilt side, one is immediately greeted with a whistling wind that grows in volume until the vocals, partway between a roar and a croak, come in to the sound of dull, feedback-laden guitar. The guitar is quite purposefully wretched-sounding, but it's entertainingly varied, finally creaking into full gear with the bass and drums with the atmosphere of an enormous, droning factory machine, pausing every once in a while to rip somebody apart. Towards the end of Movement I, we transition into Movement II with a feedback-filled halt until the machine starts up again; this time the vocals are ancient-sounding, echoing dimly behind the music. There's something hypnotic about this one; the chord patterns are so repetitive, grinding away behind squalling layers of feedback, that when the chords finally change it's almost a relief. The heaviness is relentless and only increases until another feedback interlude, this time one that makes up the entire track of Movement III. The Rorcal side starts with about 45 seconds of hissing, giving the ears a bit of a rest, but not one that lasts for very long. IX is rough, aggressive black metal, nothing slow or deliberate about it. The thundering drums, mixed in a heavily padded way that makes the drumsticks sound like they're made of foam-wrapped hunks of rebar, complement the shrieking tone of the vocals and the sound of the guitars, which on the rhythm side form a sledgehammer of confused riffing; death metal but with less precision, and overlaid by a slow, atonal lead melody. X is more like a traditional black metal song; still aggressive, of course, but with tremolo-picked guitars and a more definite melody, including some nice stops and starts to let the abrasive rhythm guitar perform some riffs on its own to let the listener get a full taste of the vinegar-sour sound. XI is somewhat a mix of both styles; the drums are going crazy here on the double-kick, but the melody keeps up with it all the way to its abrupt end. This is a nice split done by some very strong musical talent in their fields, and worth checking out. I hadn't done a whole lot of listening to either band before, and after listening to both I think I lean ever so slightly more towards Process of Guilt than to Rorcal, but that's a matter of personal taste; the offerings of both here are quite enjoyable and will likely appeal to anyone who likes noisy extreme metal. Bandcamp: http://lostpilgrimsrecords.bandcamp.com/album/split-12.