Ernest_Hubbs, July 10th, 2009 

Clocking in at under 30 minutes, this release leaves the listener wanting more but not necessarily in a good way. With Russians and Americans sharing a split (especially these 2 groups) you know its going to be unique, and probably strange. Zapolyarie is a step up for one of these bands, and a step down for the other.

Zebulon Kosted a.k.a. Rachid Abdel Ghafour has caught my attention recently, and I now own 5 of his releases. This one easily fits into the number 3 spot on that list. I was happier with his sound on this split than I was on the Tomhet / Z.K. split, for the sole reason that the majority of his 16 minutes (far too short!) is pure nasty black metal. Lo-fi, and not really comparable to other USBM, I was satisfied with his use of a very winter like (wind sound effects, and cold tones) sounding ambient / acoustic / spoken word interlude, but the Metal tracks really sold me on this album. My only complaint is that Zebulon Kosted needed more material for this split. I would recommend his full length Dragons Blood over this easily, but none the less, Z.K.s side of this Split is solid.

All The Cold, from the same town as Old Wainds (Murmansk), are a band to be watched in the Russian scene at the moment. Unfortunately on this CD I was a bit let down. Their 13 minutes of music is truly the one thing I was most disappointed in, but the lack of vocals on 2 of the tracks was a bummer as well. These guys are obviously talented, the guitar and drum tracks create fantastic atmosphere, and the bit of spoken word / ambient you hear are a nice compliment to Rachids tracks. If more time and energy would have gone into recording vocals in the 2 black metal songs, and if they could have laid down another short track, I would be a much happier man. That being said, I still enjoy listening to these songs, even if they are a bit minimalist. 

If this album would have been 45 minutes or more in length, I would score this as an 88 instead of a 78. Zebulon Kosted is close to reaching his prime, and All The Colds other tracks I have heard are really amazing. You can buy this for pretty cheap from Nokturnal Transmissions Records, I recommend it to underground enthusiasts.

Spatupon, February 17th, 2014 

All The Cold is a premier experimental rock/world music from the mighty land of Russia. Originally releasing only cold, unforgiving, depressive black metal this band has evolved to something which cannot really be traced back to their original root. Sometimes, when bands deviate from their original genre they tend to become less impressive than how they once were, take for example Kataklysm, throughout their career they've released some bone-crushing music, but as time progressed they got increasingly mediocre. 

This EP, shows how the band has progressed technically, and how they were ready to risk their entire "fame" taking a leap in the cold void, to release such a diverse, unorthodox album. I can't really say from which artists those two Russian hordes found the inspiration to release a progressive, trance-like Ep. Maybe they had certain aspirations that would help them to escape the growing scene of ambient black metal, which is increasingly being filled up with mediocre bands, which do nothing to stand out from the endless ocean of bands playing the same music genre. 

One thing which remained the same, is the trance-like atmosphere present throughout their entire repertoire, providing them with their own identity. Probably one of the most deducible progression that these guys have made from their earlier releases, is the use of bass, and guitars, and certain other string instruments which where never present in their earlier releases. 

The guitars really manage to create a groove which forces the listener to go into a blinding rage, and in contrast, certain "shoegazey" melodies help in sending the listener into a trance, therefore creating an amazing balance and evoking countless emotions, thus making this album perfect for a listen no matter how the listener is feeling, during his experience of listening this album. 

The string instruments, and also occasionally the guitar manage to provide this EP with a tinge of exotic atmosphere, most visible in the song "Zhu Zin". The bass perfectly executes the task of creating its own identity withing such a diverse EP thus making this piece of art a very interesting, ethereal listen. The drums do not really offer anything special, mostly not really detaching from the standard hard rock/ modern rock beats present in most modern rock albums, although it still manages to incorporate itself with the rest of the EP. 

Lengthwise this work of art is perfect, and it perfectly makes the listener crave for more music of the same ethereal, beautiful nature. It is neither too long, thus making it boring, but it is neither too short, to not really elaborate on the elements of the music given to us listeners on this beast of a record. The production is crystal clear, which became a sort of a trademark with the latter All The Cold releases, thus allowing the music to flawlessly make its way through the medium. 

I suggest that anyone who is into experimental music, to give this EP a spin, the band uploaded it on its you tube channel, so this can also be heard for free. Such a masterpiece cannot remain unnoticed, derelict, for the sagacious nature of the musicians behind this work, is the true definition of uniqueness.