Two years ago, Oklahoma City noise-rock titans Chat Pile joined forces with Texan screamo wraiths Portrayal Of Guilt to release a ferocious split 7″. This was my first exposure to Chat Pile, but it would not be my last. Since then, Chat Pile have dropped the underground-smash opus God’s Country, soundtracked the indie film Tenkiller, and sung karaoke with Lingua Ignota at the hotel from The Shining. Now, Chat Pile have paid it forward, dropping a new split with a band I didn’t previously know.

Kansas City’s Nerver are new to me, but their two tracks on the new Brothers In Christ split are top-shelf examples of metallic, misanthropic sludge that recall the great Amphetamine Reptile bands of the ’90s. Nerver’s most recent release is the 2022 album Cash, and that band is now firmly on my radar. Nerver’s songs fit in beautifully next to the two new Chat Pile tracks, which are unsurprisingly sick. We’ve already posted Chat Pile’s song “Cut,” and “King,” their other new one, is thick and ominous and downright pretty, without losing the menacing churn that this band does so well. Stream the new split below.

The Brothers In Christ split is out 4/14 on The Ghost Is Clear Records/Reptilian Records.