Best of 2008: #15. Daitro/Sed Non Satiata Split

Note: Due to the density of albums being presented over the upcoming weeks, I won't be posting links with them. If you want a link for any of the albums shown, leave a comment and I'll see what I can do.

While this was originally released in France late last year, it got a US release earlier in 2008, so we'll count it as such. This split sees a collaboration between two of the biggest (and therefore best) hardcore bands not only in France but throughout Europe, and the result more than lives up to the expectations created.

On their side of the split, Sed Non Satiata brings to the forefront four exquisitely crafted songs of desolation and dismay. The group eschews traditional punk speed for a more measured, brooding approach, carefully constructing their songs without losing sight of the underlying melodies that guide them. In this sense, they can be compared to a post-rock band in the way they utilize the quiet/loud spectrum, carefully changing and adding harmonies as they progress. While both Sed Non Satiata and Daitro blend elements of post-rock into their attack, Sed Non Satiata do it more often and more successfully, building delicate instrumental pieces around the emotional and forceful singing of their vocalist, a near-perfect blend of aggression and harmony.

Sed Non Satiata also develop mood throughout their songs in a very effective manner befitting of post-rock. "Des Masques" for example opens with a slow, coarsing wave of feedback as the guitars lag in, each individual element slowly added to the song as an ominous precursor of whats to come. There are also many instrumental breaks on display, such as in the middle of "Des Ruines", wherein guitar lines are strewn along in a noisy and almost artless fashion so as to suggest the isolation of the song's title.

On Daitro's side of the split, similar tendencies are shown in regards to their instrumentalism. On "De L'Eau Coule Sous Les Ponts", the guitar is relegated to the background for most of the song, content to strum along an array of high pitches and melodies with the bass and drums leading the song's progression. "Un Fleau Pour Un Autre" also follows the same pattern as mitigated by Sed Non Satiata, building up in intensity over four minutes before the vocals kick in, sounding far wilder than the occasionally soothing effort offered on the other side of the split. But while Daitro and Sed Non Satiata are oft-compared bands and rightfully so, due to their geographic location, style of music, and tendency to tour together, they do differentiate from one another at times. Daitro, unlike Sed Non Satiata, tend to revert to more traditional punk forms of progression at times, without the focus on intricacy and melody. "Nous Ne Participons Pas Tous A La Meme Utopie" is an example of this, and it shows a stark contrast to the rest of the songs on the split, developing as an up-tempo track, the kind of which is more often associated with screamo.

This is not only the best split effort of the year, but one of the rare instances in which a full-length split reaches a level of quality at which it can be regarded as a wholly congruent album. And yet, coming from Sed Non Satiata and Daitro, two supremely talented bands with track records of doing just that, it's really no surprise. Both sides are impressively strong, with the Sed Non Satiata side being a notch or so better. There is no wide barrier between either side of the split, with only incidental details and inclinations separating the songs as delivered by each band. As such, this feels like a concentrated effort, an intense and deeply intricate work of hardcore that resonates throughout.