Two of the most promising current black metal acts, Pessimista and Wrekan, have announced the impending release of a split, titled «Knife and Noose». Coming out in October, it is set to be “a bleak release, that speaks of struggle, despair, human decay and the world we created. And the need to rise above.” A teaser comprising a song from each band has been released and can be heard below.

«Knife and Noose» is set for release sometime in October through Realm and Ritual on cassette format. No precise date or pre-order links have been made available.

The split comes after each band releasing two collections of songs each in 2021 alone. We begin this recap with Pessimista, who first independently released «Ocaso» on February 5 on digital format, which can be found here. The EP would see a vinyl issue on June 18 via Subsound Records, which can be ordered here.

Two months later, on April 1, Pessimista would independently release another EP, «Abandono e Desilusão». It can be found here on digital format.

On the other hand, Wrekan began their year with their fantastic debut LP «Gevurah» (we wrote a news piece about it here), released on April 1 via Consistentis Veritatis Peremptoria and Realm and Ritual. It can be found here (digital) and here (cassette).

A few months later, on July 2, the band released a two song digital only EP entitled «Strife», which you can find here. Not much was said about it, its description simply reads “grasping at straws” and the lyrics for both songs only state “channeling,” suggesting that the raw, evocative black metal contained in both «Purge» and «Perpetual» might very well have resulted from an improvisational session. No complaints here, as it all sounds rather nice.