Into The Storm/Smooth Sailing - Split

It's the day before New Years eve, pretty girls are passed out in my living room and I'm writing about obscure death metal splits. That sounds about right. I'm well adjusted. I know how things work. It's a good thing that this split between Into The Storm and Smooth Sailing is so good though, and it gives an interesting insight into a burgeoning scene that can't help but to fascinate even jaded old fans like myself. Seattle has always had great heavy music - so watching Into The Storm and Smooth Sailing go at it is a rare treat.

When Into The Storm kick off the split with their unique brand of sludgy death metal, at times most reminiscent of Crowbar you know that you're in for a good time. It's the sort of brain shattering madness that fascinates the listener and draws us into darker unrealities. They counterbalance this with some top notch songwriting and hints at black metal. Smooth Sailing are a little bit more lighthearted but equally as good. Their more riff oriented sound serves to make for a wild ass spin on a band who rumble forward with a potent sense of authority and the sense that things are only going to keep growing from here.

What really gets me about this split though is simply that it's the creation of two bands who have been friends for a long time and who just wanted to create something to immortalize that friendship. That above all else is really important to me and speaks to what this scene is all about - making buds and working with them to generate stuff that you think is cool and which you can work on together in order to create cool futures for everyone out there trying to make a way for themselves in this scene. It's the ties of friendship that define this split and the ties of friendship that have me coming back.

Find the bands on Facebook!

Into The Storm: https://www.facebook.com/rideintothestorm/

Smooth Sailing: https://www.facebook.com/smoothsailingtheband/