When it comes to exemplary works in any style, it often doesn’t take a long time to find names that are worth talking about given how powerful word of mouth really is. A Vintage Death definitely made a splash with their debut album not too long ago, and a follow-up is something that has been more than desired by plenty of us who listened to that creation with myself included. Instead, what we’ve gotten is a split that has turned out to not only give us another glimpse into what the band is capable of but another name for us to discover and keep a very close eye on.

With just three tracks overall on this split and totaling over twenty minutes in runtime, there isn’t much about this stimulating split that doesn’t strike all the right notes when it comes to what all many of us find essential and downright tantalizing in the world of death/doom. First up to bat is Depleted who only brings a single song for this offering, but with it taking over half the time of the entire split, not a single minute is wasting to deliver us a brand of the style that not only plays to the slow burn elements of the sound but that calculated intensity comes together far too well with the riffage and sincere emotion to make for one potent wallop. It’s the exact sort of thing that knows how to play to the strengths of the style in such a way that it shows off brilliantly that Depleted can set the bait, allow its aroma to lure you in just close enough, and then allow the bait to keep you fascinated and rooted in place as Depleted molds you to the exact shape that they see fit with the fluctuating diversity in just twelve minutes being a series of rewards all on its then. Then, A Vintage Death comes around to us something that’s both exactly what we should come to expect after that flavorful debut, but also something that we should be surprised to see even if at least a little. It’s a small step forward for their sound, but evolution has absolutely taken place on a small scale to provide us with a much richer version of what we heard before, and it’s all done with such expertise for their two offerings in the split that it is damn near impossible for me to sit here and insinuate anything other than the plain truth that A Vintage Death has crafted something that’s not only incredibly potent but a damn good pair of songs for the style that they should undoubtedly be proud of.

It all comes together quite well with what each band did to make this split something that not only keeps you guessing but something that will keep you coming back for more time after time. Both of these acts have accomplished works of the style that need to be heard by many fans of it for they’ll find themselves captured by new bands that are still very much in the underground even as far as death/doom goes, and I’ve no doubt this is just another hint of what we’re to expect from both Depleted and A Vintage Death.

LISTEN to the split on Bandcamp here.

LIKE A Vintage Death on Facebook here.

From what I could find, Depleted does not have any sort of social media for us to keep tabs on them, so please follow them on Bandcamp here in order to stay up to date on releases from the band.