On occasion, we’re given a split the likes of which really embodies the best of what such a release can bring to the table. It was last year that we saw numerous split releases from many different and talented bands from many different sounds with 2023 not being quite as bountiful, but, like any other year, quality splits are still out there should we simply keep our eyes peeled. If I wasn’t careful, I would’ve completely missed the joint offering from AAWKS and Aiwass by pure happenstance, and I cannot express to you how glad I am that I took the time to look into the record for it is likely the most compelling split that this year will have thrown our way when everything is said and done.

I’m tempted to make the claim that doom-related bands tend to make for better, more complex splits given my experiences from the likes of Bog Wizard with Froglord and Domkraft with Slomatics, but I’m wont to make such a claim even in the face of what both AAWKS and Aiwass have accomplished with just one track each for “The Eastern Scrolls”. Two tracks across 27 minutes with both bands just barely not having exactly half the length of the entire split, it cannot be understated the synergy and tremendous talent that’s on full display here with each band showing off the full repertoire of their strengths without shame or compromise with each giving their best as singular units as well as a pair that work incredibly well off each other. “The Eastern Scrolls” gives us some of the best of what the current landscape of psychedelia is offering us from many other names across the board with AAWKS embodying the psych-rock side of the spectrum while it is with Aiwass we see the smoke-wreathed world of psychedelic doom done immense just. Each band has more than enough time and talent to do justice to their own individual sounds, but it is in tandem that they really make “The Eastern Scrolls” a powerful listen that cannot be easily pushed aside. Be it through massive, thick riffs or visages that shift easier than clouds in a great storm, AAWKS and Aiwass have made for a performance that modern fans of psychedelic should absolutely not miss out on.

It’s not terribly often that we get a split that is as jam-packed with excellence like what we have here. Two distinct corners of psychedelia working together to form a grand listen that has so much to offer should you simply take the plunge, “The Eastern Scrolls” takes on what it means to be truly expansive in every given sense.

LISTEN to “The Eastern Scrolls” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE AAWKS on Facebook here.

LIKE Aiwass on Facebook here.