COUGH / THE WOUNDED KINGS

"An Introduction to the Black Arts" (brilliant title, by the way) is a definitive example of why some albums should only be presented in a vinyl format. Limited to 1,500 copies of 180-gram vinyl (300 green, which look friggin' fantastic, and 1,200 black) in gatefold packaging, the 34 minutes of doom from Richmond, VA's COUGH and the U.K.'s THE WOUNDED KINGS constitute a superb representation of each band's monolithic styles. But when combined with the packaging and format, "An Introduction to the Black Arts" is a mandatory purchase, at least for those of you that own a turntable.

Clocking in at 19 minutes, "The Gates of Madness" will be immediately recognizable as COUGH to anyone that owns "Ritual Abuse", which is a very good thing. The hateful sludge is as acidic as EYEHATEGOD (with vocals to match),the fuzzed out doom is as otherworldly as ELECTRIC WIZARD (again, with vocals to match),and the combination of the two is 100 percent genuine COUGH. Much like the material of the aforementioned full-length, though not indistinguishable from it, "The Gates of Madness" works on several levels, not the least of which includes guitarist/vocalist Dave Cisco's magnificent soloing and a knack for vocal-style placement, as well as the transition to a parallel universe at the 11-minute mark that takes the song to a different place, one that is both harsh and chilling.

THE WOUNDED KINGS take the ball and run with the 15-minute "Curse of Chains", which emphasizes the cosmic over the caustic and is darker in a more subversive way. A better word for it might be "haunting", owing to organ playing from Steve Mills that gives the song a quality so organic that the room actually starts to feel damp and musty. George Birch's vocals contribute to the vibe in a similar manner. Though the piece is more hypnotic by design than "The Gates of Madness", the equally hot guitar soloing of Mills and the icy piano segment that closes the song are two of the attributes that keep the flow from turning into a dribble.

"An Introduction to the Black Arts" is the essence of the split release formant in that the music of COUGH is a perfect complement to that of THE WOUNDED KINGS. As such, the totality of the experience is taken to a level higher than could be achieved with either track in isolation. The music alone would make the rating an easy 8/10. However, when taking into consideration the warm, lived-in appearance of the gatefold packaging, inclusive of artwork and layout, as well as the vinyl format itself, there is no other choice but to add a point. The whole is in fact greater than the sum of its parts. Essential.