Split LP Review: "Split" by Hands of Orlac/The Wandering Midget

Split

There have been a goodly number of Split LPs to cross these pages in the past few months.

In a day and age where a band has to basically set themselves on fire in order to get noticed, perhaps this is really good way in order to get on the radar of more fans.

For example, last month we purchased Procession of the Equinox by Twilight Fauna and Evergreen refuge, and yes, I'm interested in Evergreen Refuge now.

The same thing happened while listening to Grim Van Doom and Cult of Occult's split together. The former wasn't part of my world, but now they are.

What makes for a good split really? That's the million dollar question and how well do they sell? The answers to these questions are elusive to me. These are my personal known unknowns.

Let's explore the idea of what makes a great split LP, at least to Glacially Musical. The first and foremost is that the bands should be of a similar genre, but they shouldn't sound so similar that if you're listening to it the bands sounds identical.

Hands of Orloc and The Wandering Midget are both Folkish Doom Metal bands that have a natural style sound and long songs. The latter has a male singer while the former has a female singer. So their sounds are clearly demarcated.

That's the biggest thing for me right there is that both bands are similar enough to belong together, but different enough as well.

Both of these bands love long form metal. Hands of Orlac use four tracks in order to fill up their side of the LP, but two of those are interstitials. The Wandering Midget though, they simply grace us with one track that's pretty much the entire back side.

Both bands excel at taking the listener on a journey full of magic and adventure. There's a lot of groove, but watch out for orcs. They will eat you.

If you're looking for some bigness, sadness, and need two bands to fill those holes, here you go.

Release: 9/8/17
Genre: Doom Metal
Label: Cruz Del Sur
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