Zieldoder & Magistraal split EP : Be Silent Like the Night / Fantoom of the Beemserburcht (review)

April 30, 2024

Close all the curtains and light up a bunch of candles because this is a dark one...

I’m talking about the Zieldoder & Magistraal black metal split EP: Be Silent Like The Night/Fantoom of the Beemsterburcht from Dutch soil of course.

This week’s review is the Zieldoder & Magistraal split EP. Magistraal, a duo with nothing to less information to find about them. I quote from their bio on Spotify: ‘In reality, the duo (originating from the Netherlands) does not want to reveal much about themselves.’ The duo started in the 90’s but ‘reawakened’ themselves in 2023. Zieldoder is as mysterious as their split EP companion. Hiding behind masks, we don’t really know who they are or where they come from besides the Netherlands.

Zieldoder : Be Silent Like The Night

4 tracks of glorious melodic black metal is what you get on this EP. It’s intense, raw but well written. I enjoyed every song and was surprised of the production quality and vocal ability. The drums are a tight bonding force between each part of every song. My favourite track has to be the self titled song ‘Be Silent Like the Night.’ It starts off with a demon-like growl to take you straight away in a very dark & head banging composition. The bass is the big star on this track, steady & melodious.

Their EP contains 4 tracks with a total of 23 minutes and is released on Zeartgevegt.

Tracklisting:

Whispers from the Void
Be Silent Like the Night
The World (A Beautiful Place)
The Feeling of Everlasting Imprisonment

You can find Zieldoder on their Facebook, Instagram or Youtube.

Magistraal : Fantoom of the Beemsterburcht

Where Zieldoder chose a very clean modern production, Magistraal chose a very different sound: lots of mids & very old school. Hate it or love it, overall it fits their vibe so I tip my hat to that.

The EP starts off with ‘Waar leed zich eeuwig voedt’ and right off the bat, the drums aren’t as tight as you would expect. I really love the vocals though. Not what I’d expect in the first place, but the lyrics are very well written. And for some strange reason, it really works well together. I think of the 3 songs on the EP my favorite has to be also the self-titled song ‘Fantoom of the Beemsterburcht’. It has a very nice moody vibe to it. I especially like the guitar parts, they kind of haunt through the whole song which makes it very melodic.