Lostbone/Terrordome - Split It Out (5,5/10)

Split recordings have always baffled me in a way. Despite my annoyance with how it messes with my music organizational system, throwing two artists together onto one release can make or break a band. It all depends on the quality of the material thrown together by the two bands, as if one is better than the other then there is this comparison made between the two where one can be seen as superior to the other. I don't believe this is a very fair deal especially if the bands play similar styles

But luckily for us, the LOSTBONE and TERRORDOME split recording, so cleverly entitled "Split It Out", has the two bands playing two fairly different styles, so the comparisons can be stretching it a little. Unfortunately, neither band would have blown the other out of the water anyway, so it wasn't going to be a problem to begin with

LOSTBONE plays a Thrashcore technique reminiscent of SWORN ENEMY or the like. Although at times the band gets cooking (the chorus of "Doorway" for example) and the energy of Thrash with the foundational work of Hardcore meld nicely together, the rest of their songs tend to border on mediocre. The Thrash riffs and the Hardcore barking just aren't kicking it together like they should and the energy might be intense but it tends to flounder on repetitive. It's a genre that has seen better days and LOSTBONE doesn't add enough new ideas to the pot.

Then there is TERRORDOME. More along the lines of older Thrash but with elements of Grindcore thrown into the mix, they aren't going to make you drool with love either. Although I will admit that the drumming for TERRORDOME caught my ear for most of their three songs, the rest of their contribution just lacks consistency. I understand that Grindcore is known for the chaotic bombardment of instruments with little in the way of foundational structuring, but having a band that goes from the wall of sound to a groove inspired Thrash section didn't impress me as much as I would have thought. TERRORDOME does a lot of these jumps of writing throughout their songs and although I'm sure some people are going to love it, I wasn't digging it as much as I thought.

Neither of the two bands are bad and their songs on "Split It Out" are descent works of Thrash inspired Metal, but nothing on here is going to make you want to go out and buy everything you can that is affiliated with the bands either. It's a fine set for the two separate bands but it's mainly for diehard fans of the two genres. Perhaps we can hear a bit more when they release their next full length efforts that are going to show us what they are made of.

Songs to check out: "Doorway" and "Revolving Ignorance".

(Online March 26, 2009)