Survival / Viranesir – ‘Unity / Solaris’ Split EP Review

With its handmade artwork, hand-sprayed disc and insert and carefully adorned box, ‘Unity/Solaris’ is one of those releases that you know means a great deal to its creator. This is not blind commerce, but the work of an artist, and it elevates the release from the ordinary to the extraordinary before you hear a note. It is remarkable, and yet heartening in these times of digitized anonymity, where so many bands are content to simply put an MP3 out on the net without thinking about how the work may be presented, that some artists are happy to buck the trend and produce something of real value for their followers. Even more remarkably, this is not a limited release. As the press release states: “there is no limit to the number of ”Unity/Solaris” CDs, as long as the man is alive.” The man is Toğrul, co-owner of Merdumgiriz and the multi-instrumentalist at the heart of Viranesir, the band behind the second half of this special split release.

However, before we get to Viranesir we have the mighty Survival, a West Coast punk/thrash band who have released a wide array of albums and eps ranging from full-on, carefully produced albums like ‘Shayda’ to super lo-fi recordings like ‘Hapiness’. Heavy, yet always varied, Survival’s output highlights the punk edge at the heart of thrash and throws in a few twisted psychedelic chops for good measure, and ‘Unity’ is one hell of a start to the split release.

Offering up five tracks overall, ‘Unity’ is a very strong release from Survival, the production perfectly matching the band’s ambitious arrangements. The opening track ‘welcome home’ is hardcore punch with a vicious metallic edge, all crunching palm-muted riffs and sneering vocals delivered with a power that shakes the room. Sitting somewhere between Hot Water Music and Anthrax (with a hint of Helmet for good measure), it packs a hefty punch and leaves the listener reeling. Better still is the brutal ‘mother of alchemy’ with its huge gang chant chorus, whilst the scything stop-start riffs of ‘Rig’ offers itself up as the EP’s most devastating workout. George Lallian’s bass is especially energetic here, but standing out above the wreckage of mangled riffs is Nick Noro’s tortured vocals which are delivered with a venom that has to be heard to be believed. The EP slows its relentless pace briefly with the swirling riffs of ‘Persevere’, a song that soon screams into life, Nick pinning brutalized hardcore vocals onto a complex, thrash-orientated track to create a snarling hybrid that would not sound out of place on the last Amebix record. Survival’s half of the record draws to a close with the arty title track, a piece that opens with backwards phased guitar and which goes on to offer up melody and power in equal measure. A complex, deeply satisfying finale it offers up some amazing guitar work as Nick Noro and Roland Sayn trade licks and it marks the end of an all-too-short EP with not a single low point.

Something of a contrast, to say the least, Viranesir are an experimental music project “Originally created to be the solo project of the fictional main… character in the film “Drink From The Fountain Of Uncertainty”” Somewhere along the line, Viranesir evolved into a three-piece and now produce music that is deeply unsettling. Operating on the very fringes of experimental death / black metal, Viranesir incorporate elements of early Swans, Darkthrone, early Darkthrone and even the doors into their swirling, miasmic sound. It is not pleasant music, and it deals with unpleasant topics, cleverly inverting the concepts of straight-forward politicised beliefs through confrontation, forcing those with a supposedly liberal agenda to expose their own desire to control and contain that with which they don’t agree. Such shock tactics are far from new in the metal underground, but Viranesir are more confrontational than most and a degree of caution is recommended for those of a sensitive disposition. Viranesir seem to share certain performance aspects with GG Alin, amongst others, but the use of the Swastika, for me at any rate, is a rather obvious way to offend people’s sensibilities whilst simultaneously testing the barriers of freedom. Whilst it is possible to argue that the forced removal of said image has more in common with fascism than simply wearing it devoid of political motivation,  the adoption of the Swastika is so easy a red flag to wave that you’d imagine artists would find something else to use. Nonetheless, Viranesir’s basic truth seems to be a-political, amoral and motivated by a desire to normalize freedoms rather than have them remain the exclusive province of those liberally minded souls who would talk of freedom of speech whilst erasing all the scars of human conflict and the racial/sexual abuse that has, historically categorized human behaviour. It is the responsibility of the artist to confront, and it is arguably this confrontational edge that makes for such an interesting EP.

Unsurprisingly, ‘Solaris’ is far from an easy listen and ‘dream’s house’ is not unlike being trapped on a fairground ride in hell with its hypnotic riffs, fizzing, muffled production and slithery synth, yet there’s something deeply compelling about it all, and as it segues into the equally creepy ‘love’, the method at the heart of this madness starts to become clear. The lo-fi production, so jarring when it first emerged out of Survival’s heavy sound, is a thing of dark beauty, a claustrophobic sound that perfectly accentuates the dark heart that beats at the music’s core. ‘Night of the mare’ is more synth driven, with a gothic edge, sort of a cross between Burzum and Sisters of mercy before the title track closes things out with a chilling, child-like melody emerging from a nightmarish collision of churning guitar and rattling percussion. It’s dark, unyielding and clearly the work of an artist entirely uninterested in the norms of what might be called ‘civilised’ society, and it marks out Viranesir as one of the few bands who can truly be called ‘independent’, for they rely upon no system other than their own.

Split EPs are something of an anachronism. On the one hand, as they always have done, they allow fans the opportunity to hear new music cheaply and easily. On the other hand, in these days of digital promotion, they seem to be less essential than they once were when the only way to hear new music was to take the plunge and buy into a CD by an artist you had likely never heard. Nonetheless, I like the idea of bands joining forces thanks to stylistic or philosophical similarities (here it is the later rather than the former) and, with luck, this beautifully rendered split will allow fans of either band the chance to expand their horizons. Certainly, in this depressing age of digital conformity, the hand-made artwork is very much appreciated and it makes the release somewhat more special than a simple cardboard case might be. This is not music for the faint of heart and the stark contrast in musical styles may find some fans playing one half more than the other, depending upon their own personal favourite, but it’s worth the risk to uncover artists who retain the courage of their convictions in today’s ever blander and more heavily censored age.