Summer is upon us, with the sun shining brightly in the sky, what better soundtrack to the summer is there than a compilation of Eighties glam rock blasting from the stereo whilst also burning vast amounts of animal flesh and sipping a cold beer. If however this sounds like your idea of hell and you abhor the great orange bastard in the sky, then draw those curtains and put on the new split album 'Black Lights And Silent Roads' from Weston Super Mare's My Silent Wake and Cardiff's The Drowning and introduce yourself to a world of melancholy.

Already established as one of the frontrunners of the UK death/doom circuit, My Silent Wake have already released three highly acclaimed albums on the underground scene and were about to record their next album when, after a random remark or drunken comment (neither bands confirming the origins of their collaboration), they instead decided upon releasing a split album with fellow underground doomsters and good friends The Drowning.

The beauty of this beast is that whilst each band are masters of their craft and honorary members of the underground doom scene each band has a completely different take on the genre that works perfectly when combined. Demonstrating the versatility, creativeness and musicianship of each band resulting in a veritable tour de force of doom metal.

Whereas The Drowning's take is a more brutal assault on the eardrums, My Silent Wake use a far more subtle and elegant approach taking the listener on a great musical voyage of discovery.

The first half of the album features My Silent Wake, firstly covering a song by the band Attrition that also happen to be friends of the band, which also features guest appearances of Martin and Sin from the aforementioned band. Also covering The Drowning number 'Devoid Of Light', The Drowning will later cover My Silent Wakes' 'A Photograph' from 'The Anatomy' album doing a impressive job in return, making the song their own. Any fans of short three minute blasts of energy a la The Ramones will be hugely disappointed with My Silent Wake's final offering with a running time of twenty three minutes and twenty eight seconds, this leaves Iron Maiden's classic 'Rhyme Of The Ancient Mariner' sounding like a number from Napalm Death's 'Scum' album, yet I would recommend that you stick with the number and you will be pleasantly surprised.

The Drowning open up their portion of the album with the awesome 'The Doomsday Feire' displaying the band's brutal take on the genre. Along with the tracks 'Arc Limit' and 'Silent Epiphany' they clearly illustrate the talent and musicianship The Drowning possess in abundance. Along with their brothers in arms My Silent Wake, The Drowning have the ability to rise from the underground any time soon, the big question however is do we really want them to or do we simply just cherish them at underground status for our own selfish needs...you decide!

www.myspace.com/mysilentwake

www.myspace.com/thedrowninguk