(((O))) : Nunslaughter / Antiseen – Split

The reason I bring up Antiseen first, on this release, is due to the extreme contrast between their contributions on this split compared to Nunslaughter’s. First off, Antiseen is a very strange almost-punk version of Motörhead – I mean no disrespect by that comparison, obviously (especially since Antiseen has something like 100+ releases in various forms). However, I can’t shake the fact that the singer, Jeff Clayton, sings like a slightly less drug-addled Lemmy.

Though Antiseen is pretty okay on this Split, their apparent theme of political satire almost seems to completely fall flat. I didn’t get the joke with either ‘Air of Opportunity’ or ‘Down to the Bone’. In fact, both tracks seemed to accidentally come off as Patriotic jingles. I mean, I’m sorry but if stating that someone (In ‘Air of Opportunity’) "even loves Nixon" doesn’t really come off as a joke to me – as I’ve actually encountered people that fanatical over the USA. And with ‘Down to the Bone’ I don’t even get what is going on there – banter about ammunition and going back home? Again, Antiseen seems to have lost me.

Now, it wasn’t long ago that I’d heard of Nunslaughter. And with their punkish riffs and black metal style and aesthetic how could I? Everything about Nunslaughter seems like it is meant to offend. For instance, the cover of this Split 7” clearly shows what looks to be a fully exposed masturbating Zombie Nun with an upside down crossed burned into her forehead – for some reason, flowers surround her. I suppose Nunslaughter has a very active sense of irony in their chosen art. I can only imagine the art and content of Nunslaughter’s countless (and I mean countless) other releases.

Their offerings for this split are ‘So Vile’ and ‘The Burning Times’ - two insanely good tracks that far outweigh those offered by Antiseen. I don’t know what is so much more attractive about Nunslaughter’s tracks. Maybe it’s the edge or how front man Don of the Dead begins ‘So vile’ with “Now listen you fools…” (I don’t know, it sure got me to listen). Oh, did I mention that Nunslaughter also manages to completely contradict the overbearing ‘Patriot’ themes of Antiseen’s tracks?

The only fault of Nunslaughter’s tracks is that they are essentially a cop-out when it comes to being two separate tracks. Both blend together and both have similarities in content.

Only because of Nunslaughter’s contributions does this 7” really seem worth checking out. The completely accidental contrast between the content of each band really makes it almost hilarious to hear Antiseen’s side and then move on to Nunslaughter's.