Dear lord is this ever one of the heaviest split records in quite a while, and I am sure that I don’t have to explain how that is saying something; but both bands on this could wreck your speakers on their own anytime so having them both on one slab of wax is a completely different kind of punishment altogether, even down to the cover art. I am very familiar Seven Sisters Of Sleep and their misanthropic pummeling, but Children of God is a band with which I have had no prior experience.
Children of God somehow mix grind and hardcore with sludge in a way that works while being catchy as hell at points; I mean it is easy to explain how they mix these seemingly disparate genres and that is by playing hard and fast while giving a sludge-y or doom-y breakdown every now and then, but it is powerful sounding and works real well for them. “Bled Dry” is easily my favorite of the three songs that they put on this split as it is definitely showcases the sludge aspects of their sound very well, and the band takes their time with the way the song is fluidly composed for maximum loudness.
Without lying, I have to admit that Seven Sisters Of Sleep is the whole reason why I grabbed this record as they are one of my favorite new heavy bands; and on this split, these guys deliver in spades with their usual superb take on heavy music as the three songs on this split are everything that draws me to this band: heavy riffing that feel like punches to your gut (if you turn it up loud enough), a rhythm section that can knock you on your ass, and vocals that just fit with the ensuing mayhem. “Green Garden of Unrest” is just awesome, particularly the slow and measured pounding that the music just comes at the listener with while periodically speeding up to one hell of nasty payoff that has me punching the air right now in a silent affirmation of how into the record that I am. The other two songs (“Weapons” and “Almighty Black Talons”) have similar aspects and are equally as representative of the band’s penchant for writing real good, real crushing tunes.
This is a really cool split that just kind of drives me nuts because all I seriously want is to hear more; it makes me want to check out more from Children of God while it leaves me salivating to hear the next release from Seven Sisters Of Sleep, but in either case, there is no bad song on this record at all, which is great for anyone who checks it out.
