heavy-metal-darkness: Hibernaut/Face Pulp |Split LP |What’s Left Records

Tuesday, February 17, 2026

Hibernaut/Face Pulp |Split LP |What’s Left Records

Release Date March 6^th, 2026
Format Vinyl/CD/Cassette/Digital
Genre Sludge/Stoner/Doom Metal, Death Metal
Country USA

Hibernaut is a heavy hybrid of doom, stoner, and sludge metal hailing from Salt Lake City, Utah. The band formed in 2021 when guitarist/vocalist Dave Jones (Subrosa, Dwellers, Oxcross) and drummer Zach Hatsis (Subrosa, Dwellers) reconnected creatively after years of collaboration. Joined by bassist Josh Dupree and lead guitarist Matt Miller (Thunderfist, Oldtimer), Hibernaut found their stride channeling decades of collective experience into a powerful, riff-laden sound. Their 2023 debut album "Ingress" was recorded with producer Andy Patterson and landed at #15 on The Doom Charts. Their second full-length album, "Obsidian Eye", released on July 11, 2025, marked a significant leap for the band, earning #7 on that month’s Doom Charts.

Face Pulp started officially in October of 2021 in Flagstaff, Arizona. The band features Steve on vocals, MT on guitar, Landyn on bass, and Randy on drums. Face Pulp mixes genres of hardcore punk, grindcore, thrash, and hints of OSDM. In 2023 they released their full length "Eye Grabbing Detail" and were pivotal in booking the "Burning Pines" festival. Throughout 2025 they played consistently all over the region, ran a southwest tour, and opened for acts like Gatecreeper, Soulfly, and Go Ahead And Die. With big tour plans for 2026 in the midwest and Europe, they joined forces with Hibernaut for this split LP.

This split LP plays out like a bar fight between a giant and a meth-head. It brings together two bands that have no business sharing a stage, yet somehow, the carnage makes sense. On side A, Hibernaut drags the listener into the mud. These guys have been around the block in bands like Subrosa, and you can hear that experience in the distortion. They do not rush anything. The riffs roll out slow and thick, burying the room in a wall of fuzz. It is heavy, smoked-out doom that rumbles the floorboards. They keep the tempo down and the volume up, creating a massive, suffocating noise that demands volume.

Then you flip the album, and Face Pulp kicks the door in. The Arizona crew drops the doom vibes entirely for a spazzed-out assault of grind and hardcore. The drums sound like they are falling down stairs, and the vocals are pure screeching hostility. It is chaotic and abrasive. Where the first half of the split tries to crush you with weight, Face Pulp tries to stab you with speed. The contrast is jarring, snapping you out of the stoner trance and forcing you into the pit.

The production on this release is appropriately filthy. Neither band sounds over-produced or sterile. The drums sound like drums, and the guitars sound like chainsaws. What's Left Records put this out on vinyl, and the analog format suits the griminess of the music. It is raw, loud, and honest. This is not high art; it is a noise complaint waiting to happen.

This split is a solid addition to the shelf for anyone who collects underground heavy music. It captures two distinct scenes in the American West and mashes them together without apology. It is not going to change the world, but it will definitely annoy the neighbors. It is a good, heavy listen that delivers on its promises without any pretentious nonsense.

Score: 7.5/7.0