Skitliv - Amfetamin

Amfetamin is the first mini CD from Skitliv, a new musical project of Maniac, the former vocalist of Mayhem. Amfetamin features two studio tracks and a short live set recorded in London towards the end of 2007. The two tracks are drenched in doom atmospheres merging elements of black metal with drones and electronic noise. The percusionless title track is especially effective. A lilting guitar melody plays throughout as Maniac and Attila (the current Mayhem vocalist) offer manipulated hellish rasps and roars above windswept droning. Little touches of spiralling guitar appear as snatches of doom metal riffing jostle with burst of noise, electronic treatments and snippets of dialogue. It's dense and intense and quite unlike what I was expecting from Skitliv. 'Slow Pain Coming' is set to a series of slow, punishing doom metal riffs, thunderous drums topped off by Maniac's harsh, menacing tones. Waves of howling noise roar underneath. It never really takes off, the stop-start sluggish guitars opting instead for layered doom sonics. It's all the better for it.

A specially recorded piece by Current 93 serves as an opener to the Camden Underworld show. Hissing and howling atmospherics from Andrew Liles, as David Tibet, revisiting Current 93's Black Ships Ate The Sky territory, continuously asks the unanswered question: "Who will deliver me from myself?" From there Skitliv launch into fairly predicable doom metal consisting of punishing heavy riffing, rampant percussion and the howls and hollers of Maniac. Shorn of the noise and electronics that draped the studio tracks the live set is much more raw and direct. 'A Valley Below' throws up enough interesting guitar twists and the live take on 'Amfetamin', complete with pouding drums, remains true to the doom based atmospherics. While the studio tracks bring together doom metal with electronic noise the remainder of the live set proves Amfetamin to be quite a surprising release for Cold Spring and something of an oddity within these pages. And would it have featured here without the involvement of Current 93 with whom both Attila and Maniac are scheduled to work with...a resounding no would have to be the answer. For more information go to www.coldspring.co.uk