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Originally released back in 2008, We Bring Desolation is the union of Polish hatemongers Antisemitex and Selbstmord which is now being given the vinyl treatment with a re-release on Darker than Black Records. Selbstmord I was already familiar with, in fact I hold Spectre of Hate in such high standing that I regard it as one of the greatest albums ever to come out of the Polish NSBM scene, an album as brutally unforgiving as it was hateful and stills holds up as such ten years on. Antisemitex on the other hand I was rather oblivious to, and going by the awful name which sounds like a self-parody on the genre it's ridiculous, it's fair to say my expectations weren't exactly high.

Surprisingly Antisemitex aren't actually all that bad if their side of the split here is anything to go by and surprisingly it isn't black metal at all, instead a more primitive style of death metal. Fair enough they aren't exactly pushing the boat out stylistically with their brand of ugly, mid-tempo death metal which contains heavy RAC undercurrents most prevalent in the vocalist's hostile performance which is a sort of shouted death metal style. The music itself is elementary as far as death metal goes; dense, downtuned riffing and an unremarkable one-dimensional drum machine backing them up which certainly to these ears gives off vibes of early Unleashed among others, only not nearly as good. For as heavy as the guitar is, the poor production of their half is so weak it gives it no real power at all and this isn't helped by the excessively loud production on the vocals which only proceeds to overpower the guitars even more.

It's the second half, Selbstmord's side of the split that really saves We Bring Desolation from mediocrity though and only furthers to prove just how average Antisemitex were. These four songs was their first new material since Spectre of Hate and it follows on in much the same vein, their raw and uncompromising black metal further cementing their status as stalwarts of the Polish scene. It's utterly frenzied; the drumming is ruthless and surrounded by the riffs which are brilliant, tearing through each track like a length of blood soaked of razor wire gouging everything it comes into contact with, which is none more evident than on standout track "Dzi? podpalimy ca?y ?wiat". It doesn't have quite the same impact as their previous material (not much else does) but then again I didn't really expect it to.

We Bring Desolation isn't a release for the weak-willed and easily offended, nor one for those seeking any sense of melody or atmosphere and post-nonsense. What it does bring to the table though is a heavy dose of intolerance and hatred which won't be to everyone's taste but for fans of NSBM such as Thor's Hammer, Sunwheel and Ohtar I would recommend this for the sheer frenzied brutality of the Selbstmord side alone. Antisemitex on the other hand, while not exactly awe-inspiring, do enough to pass the time with their scorn-filled sermons without ever really threatening much more and I can only imagine a full-length would be a little too much mediocrity to handle. Still though, certainly not a bad release at all.