Primitive Man splits with Xaphan and Hexis

Written by Aaron Sullivan.

If you read my review of last years Primitive Man album Scorn you know I am a big fan (the album made my year end list). I also had the pleasure of seeing them live last year, that only cemented my fandom.

For the uninitiated Primitive Man is the project of Ethan McCarthy (ex-Clinging to the Trees of a Forest Fire, Vermin Womb). He along with Jonathan Campos on bass and Isidro Soto on drums create dark, ugly, heavy, blackened Sludge. Just the type of music I love the most.

They have teamed up to do two splits this year (so far) with two different bands. Admittedly I was not familiar with Xaphan before this split and had only checked out Hexis’ album Abalam once. I bought both of these splits for Primitive Man and figured I'd give the other bands a try.


First up is the split with Xaphan featuring ex-members of Disembodied, Threadbare, Blinding Light, 108, Martyr AD, Bosnia, Black Sleep of Kali. They play what could be described as Hardcore with an industrial tinge to it. The song is in your face from the get go. Vocals are a great mix of hardcore style shouts and throaty roars that remind me a bit of Neurosis’ Dave Edwardson. Heavy and full of energy. A good pairing with Primitive Man’s song. One that opens with this almost Grind feel before going into a full beat down of heaviness. Both songs are relentless, short, sweet, and to the point.

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Next up is their split with Denmark’s Hexis. This is a band I did know. Their album Abalam was solid, but ultimately didn't do that much for me. They play Blackened Hardcore with no song clocking in at over 4 minutes, except one. The closer "Inferis", that is almost 9 minutes and is the one song I really enjoyed. It is slow, dark and full of atmosphere. Their contribution to this split is very much in the same vein. It’s starts off a tad faster before going into a dronish middle section. Ending in sludgy, doomy goodness. Primitive Man’s song does what they do best. Mixing up the intensity and ugliness of Sludge and the heaviness of DOOM in ways not too many others can duplicate.

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The thing I loved most about these splits is the pairing of not only the bands, but of the songs too. Both show the diversity that Primitive Man bring in their song writing. Neither are duplicates, yet both would sound fine if they were tracks on the same album. As for the other two bands. They both did enough on one song to make me want to hear more, as is the case for Xaphan, and give Hexis another try. To me that is a successful split.

Ruins / Usnea

Written by Matt Hinch.


The always reliable Halo of Flies recently released this filthy little 7” split between Germany's Ruins and Portland's Usnea. Not being familiar with either band this split served as my intro to both and upon first listen I knew I'd be digging up their back catalog.

On the Ruins side the band guides us through a twisted path to reach fulfilment. The track builds to a sludgy bleakness at the onset. The tone is a heavy black metal one but the sludge roars lend warmth. “Discrimen” moves into pseudo-screamo territory with guitars soaring beyond the clouds. It then turns effortlessly towards a swinging hardcore groove. Dropping further into a quiet moment its conclusion explodes with crashing, momentous riffs and harried percussion.

Usnea counter with “Only The End Of The World”. It's a little more straightforward. And the direction is down. A lonely guitar line leads to heaving doom, plummeting the listener towards the growls emanating from beneath the earth. The track is sinister and mean, as befitting the apocalyptic nature of the title. Chaotic guitars are layered over low and slow filth while insane screams of utter pain and anguish force their way into your head. Those cursed screams are not for the faint of heart.

Ruins and Usnea balance each other well even though their styles follow different roads. Ruins' meandering is not off-putting while Usnea are content to hold your head beneath the surface and deliver you to your doom with considerable distaste. I'll be interested to see how Ruins' approach plays out over a full album and how much torture one can take from Usnea on their forthcoming full length.

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Alpinist​ | ​Masakari - Split

Review by Aaron Sullivan.

I had been seeing this album cover in my local record store a few times. What caught my eye was the cover. Something about it just stuck out from the rest of the albums. But what I forgot to do the first time was actually remember to get the name of the album and artists. I did not make that mistake a second time. And when I heard the album I was glad I didn’t. This album is heavy, raw, dirty, crusty, sludgy, hardcore.

Alpinist. Photo by Carmelo Española

Germany’s Alpinist starts us off with six tracks that are highly charged musically and lyrically. With subjects like anti-war and anti-Nazism this is music with a message. A message delivered with machine gun guitars and well beaten drums. The last track ‘Quelle Valeur Reste’ is stand out. It changes things up a bit by adding atmosphere sounding more akin to Sludge.

Masakari. Photo by Carmelo Española

Next up is Cleveland’s Masakari. Where Alpinist leave off Masakari pick up and run with it. The Sludge is strong with this band. Amazingly while their songs may be shorter than Alpinists, they seem to be able to do more in them. Allowing songs to build in their intensity. Not always going right for the throat from the beginning. The bass sound is a monster.

This split does what a good split should do. Give you just a taste of each band and make you hungry for more. I know I plan on going back for seconds.

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