This split sees Virginia’s Destruct and Stockholm’s Svaveldioxid in typically uncompromising form as they both contribute two new tracks apiece plus a cover of a track from each other’s discography.

‘Aimless accumulation with no respite, Endless reproduction, Endless night, No man’s atrocity this silent debt of misery’ (Reindustrialised)

Destruct have been in impressively prolific form since the release of their second full-length, 2023’s Cries The Mocking Mother Nature.  They have followed that in quick succession with their contributions to Screaming Death (a four-way split album with Disskerad, Rat Cage, and Scarecrow), To Stop The Conflict (a split 12-inch with Life), and now this latest collaboration with Svaveldioxid.

As ever, the band unleash a battery that brutally melds raw punk with the additional heft of metallic crust.  The d-beat fired rhythm section underpins the unrelenting waves of darkly ominous riffage, while the gutturally roared vocals contemplate how rampant greed continues to fuel environmental collapse and seemingly endless conflict.  Their three tracks include a cover of Krigets Hundar (Dogs Of War) taken from Svaveldioxid’s 2019 album, Dödsögonblick (Moment Of Death).

‘Uppgrävda lik, I krigande länder, Oskyldiga offer, Med bakbundna händer’ (Stillbilder) / ‘Exhumed corpses, In warring countries, Innocent victims, With hands tied behind their backs’ (Still Images)

If there is a band to match Destruct’s creative energies, it is Svaveldioxid (Sulphur Dioxide).  During the decade of their existence, the band have released five albums and a slew of EPs.  Indeed, the band’s sixth album is already slated for release later this year on Phobia Records.

Intriguingly, while the high velocity dynamics of their sound are firmly rooted in Swedish käng, Svaveldioxid’s guitar tone is very much more indebted to the gratifyingly thick buzzsaw that came to define early 1990s’ Swedish death metal.  Yeah, that’s right – Entombed gets the mangel treatment.  Meanwhile, the echo-infused, semi-shouted vocals are immersed in the unremitting horrors of warfare.  Their three tracks also include a reciprocal Destruct cover, namely Two State Solution from 2023’s Screaming Death.