Split by Storm Ross / Shoto

"This whole thing is just a plot to blow up my eardrums.

It began so innocently. Storm Ross kicked off this short split with a sly guitar arrangement that slowly built into a layered blitz of guitar and decay. I can handle that. I became lost inside of this for a moment. He paved the path for me to escape with a nasty guitar solo that sat on top of the prior layer and then gently sank back under, only to make way for a drone that comforted me like an old friend. Fittingly, Storm named this track “I Wish I Could Have Known You.” Shockingly accurate; the movement yearns for a connection to its listener, and as the listener, I absorbed.

Then Shoto’s side begins. I realized quickly that Storm Ross’s opener was the perfect build to the brick wall of a power punch that Shoto delivered. Their track “Smoke Weed” is just what you want from a song of that name: slow moving, heavy, fuzzy, and littered with enough THC to make even the most seasoned stoner cry out for help. The track was essentially an instrumental except for the end, which introduced the album’s first vocal; a muffled chant that is definitely the spookiest part of the whole thing.

The final track on this split was “Worship Nothing,” a no-nonsense late ‘90s hardcore track that ignited my eardrums the same way Botch’s “We Are the Romans” did the first time I heard it. This was my favorite offering and also when I realized I had my headphones turned up a little too loud. The end of “Worship Nothing” is one of my favorite moments this band has produced. It wrapped up with a noise breakdown that was more sonically challenging than I had bargained for, but I stuck with it and let this band destroy my ears."

- Wesley Nowlin, Already Dead Tapes, 2017

Tracklist

1.	Storm Ross - I Wish I Could Have Known You	9:07

2.	Shoto - Smoke Weed	5:40

3.	Shoto - Worship Nothing	4:31

Credits

released July 28, 2017

License