The alpine death cult of Ulm and the chthonic doom cult of Galvanist have joined forces to bring forth Hollowtop, a hard hitting split that presents the best of both bands. The eclectic mix of ecstatic fury from Ulm and the heady occult melodies of Galvanist have forged a dynamic sound that fuse together in an interesting way where the two bands sort of clash in terms of stylistic approach and sound yet create this differing harmony that makes this one of the few splits I can really get behind and don’t feel like a glorified demo tape.
Ulm
Ulm provides two whirlwind tracks. A continuation of the dissonant and intense sound of their first demo release, Ulm lays down their boundary pushing sound and assaults the listener with a more condensed and streamlined approach from before. Even with a more clear and cleaner mastering, they’re still able to create this incredibly heavy wall of sound that wraps you in its cold embrace. Those genre bending elements are still there, having some free-jazz sound with a much stronger black metal approach. These two tracks on their own feel like a whole new demo release and could easily standalone from this project with how intense and dense the two tracks present themselves.
Galvanist
While they’re only laying down one track, its quite moving and emotional. Running for eight minutes, it feels like it could even be longer, or maybe its just a taste of what’s to come in the future. Their progressive doom metal sound is still there, though mixing in more of that black/death metal sound, creating a track that is heavy on the atmosphere. This track feels like a story is being spun, something frantic and emotional, yet stable and clear. There’s a vision that the band is creating behind this track, but it feels like there should be more to it. Like the story has only just begun. I was truly impressed by this track, and cements my positive outlook for the band that their first release created for me. The sound the band creates sounds much bigger than who they are, like a band who’ve been playing together for 10+ years almost. I am certainly looking forward to more from these galvanating cultists.
For a split, this is incredibly solid and something everyone should check out. In my opinion, I did prefer the Ulm side of the split simply because of how captivating Ulm’s performance can be. But that doesn’t mean Galvanist is overshadowed by them as their performance is just as memorable and intriguing though in a different frame of mind. Well worth the listen.