More Evil Than All

Things like this tape are precisely why I started doing Cosmic Hearse. It's strange, it's mysterious, it's poorly recorded, and it was released in a limited edition of 188 hand-numbered copies. Blod Besvimelse and Grausamkeit, two incredibly warped black metal bands from Germany, joined forces to create "More Evil Than All." The cover art is perfect too, a xeroxed image of two corpse-painted bros, one of them in a Halloween costume witch hat, they appear to be hugging. Blod Besvimelse start out their side with a lo-fi pre-recorded version of Richard Strauss' well known "Also Sprach Zarathustra." Why Blod Besvimelse chose such an instantly recognizable piece of music to kick off their only release is anyone's guess. This curious intro is followed by a mid-paced, keyboard-heavy instrumental called "Seelengifter" and another titled "Misebanke." Grausamkeit sound like Blod Besvimelse with vocals. Both bands share a love for the lo-fi aesthetic and outdated keyboard sounds. Grausamkeit has recorded and released no fewer than eighteen demos and three splits between 1995 and 2001, all on cassette, all amazing. Grausamkeit's three song contribution to this split has more guitars than other stuff I have heard from the band. The vocals are way up in the "mix," and sound very removed from the instruments. Not the best from Grausamkeit, one of my all-time favorite outsider black metal bands, but still eccentric enough to merit a mention here. Now listen:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=AMHJLPI4