Let’s get straight to the good stuff: The Parish. These guys are great. The first of their two tracks on this triple split record, Suffer, bolts out of the gate with some classic stoner-type riffage and then settles into a real groove over some muted double bass drumming before picking the pace up again and finishing off with that killer riffage. The vocals are harsh but not a big presence. Suffer is a stylish, very competent piece of heavy music. The Parish really flex their muscles, though, on Dark Days. This ten minute composition drags you through some nasty mud and leaves you wanting you more. It’s a rollicking ride that takes advantage of a few tempo changes to fully exploit it’s opportunity to crawl into your brain. The Parish go from stoner to death/doom to a quiet and exotic dip in the reverb pool (almost an Asian sound) and wrap this burner up with some playing guaranteed to heave your head bouncing along. It isn’t every day you hear a ten minute song that ends too soon, but Dark Days is just such a song. I consider The Parish to be a band of significant potential; an exciting discovery. In this instance, the triple split has served its purpose. I will be waiting for the next release by these guys.

Album openers, Desolate Void are an interesting salad of sounds. Open minds and willing ears will hear everything from punk, surfer, southern rock, sludge, stoner, rockabilly, and more emerging from the five tracks of theirs on the record in question. They a play a mean, serrating blend of the aforementioned. The vocals are often processed to the extreme in a way that sounds like a DJ scratching vinyl. Freaky shit. I’m not sure I’d want to listen to a whole album of those vocals, so this format is probably just the right dose. Ungrateful Bastard is the standout track from these guys here. It includes a spoken passage which approximates the kind of ass-chewing so many reprobates are prone to give to their progeny; tapping into a rage with which all too many listeners will be familiar.

The Last Van Zant are the least impressive of the three bands on this split. They play a crusty sort of hardcore-ish breed of southern sludge. They’ve got a good energy and even manage to lay down the odd catchy bit among all their rough heaviness. It’s not bad, pretty good even, but it fails to shine next to the work of The Parish and Desolate Void.

All in all, this is a great little peek into the World of Crimes Against Humanity and it will be the rare listener who fails to find something here they wish to investigate further.