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NECROMESSIAH
Instar Gladii In Corporem Christi
(Slava Productions)
42:39min
This infernal horde hails from Italy and totally worships the oldschool tradition
of their ancestors. You can already see this when you have a look at the packaging of
the album. And even a couple of naked nuns posing in front of a rock on the backcover,
hehehehe. And of course the music follows that left hand path as well. This trio takes
influences from bands like Venom,
Hellhammer / Celtic Frost, Sodom or their legendary countrymen Bulldozer as well as from bestial South American squads. The ten blasphemous
assaults are nothing else than Christ slashing, primitive Black Metal hymns. Of course
NECROMESSIAH are far away from being original and their songtitles and lyrics have cliches
gallore (I had a big smile in my face after reading them)... but who the fuck cares
about this as long as it is played with passion and the whole thing works. The speed
of the banger friendly tracks ranges between mid paced and faster sections with bestial
outbreaks. They are played simple but effective. No experiments, keyboards or effects
here... just pure Metal mayhem. The sound quality is surprisingly good and no need to worry
about a kind of "2 tracks rehearsal tape" sound quality. You have some distortions of the
guitars but this is done with intention (to underline the oldschool feel). At the end of
the regular set you will hear a hidden track on the disc after a while. Oldschool Black
Metalheads can check them out, it can't be wrong. A nice blasphemous disc on the Thai
underground label Slava Productions. Get in touch with the label at
iamsatanist@darksites.com or the band at http://web.tiscali.it/necromessiah/.
Michael Oelschlegel
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NECROMESSIAH
Antiklerical Terroristik Death Squad
(Debemur Morti Productions)
28:30min
What would you expect from a band claiming to be influenced by such legends
as VENOM, SODOM, CARPHATIAN FOREST, IMPALED NAZARENE, CELTIC FROST /
HELLHAMMER, MOTÖRHEAD and the likes? Pure mayhem? Fuck yeah! These shitheads have been around for over 5 years spreading their
fucked up Black / Thrash all over their native Italy, with several releases under
their belts and ready to take over the world with this their newest best-wishes
present for the Vatican worthless scum properly titled "Antiklerical Terroristik Death
Squad". They storm mercilessly through the 10 blasphemies with an admirable
respect for the oldschool Metal underground and I can assure that this
will put a big fat smile on any 80s headbanger. Obviously, this is not
the most innovative thing ever released but at this point who cares about originality when most of the new stuff being released sucks big
time! In order to enjoy this album from beginning to end it is required that
you steal from the nearest supermaket a 6 pack of your favorite beer
(non-alcohol is for pussies!), a cigarette pack (even if you don't smoke!), a nice
big-boobs-bitch (highest score if she is your best friend's girlfriend!)
and be prepared to headbang until your head drops down to the floor! Contact them at:
http://necromessiah.altervista.org/.
Mario Cubero
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NECROMORPH
Inputcollapse (Demo CD)
(Hellville Records)
21:53min
Germany's NECROMORPH
started 1995 as a Black Metal band but changed their style over the
years to oldschool Crust / Grind with a raw Black Metal and
primitive Death Metal touch. After three demos and one split 7“
with ANENCEPHALUS this is their actual full-length demo CD. Most
of the nine songs on “Inputcollapse“ are quite fast, short and
simple with a rough undergound production. The vocals remind me of
BELPHEGOR's first two releases: similar deep grunts mixed with
hellish screams in a good balance. The layout of the CD is quite
simple with an old NAPALM DEATH meets OBITUARY's “World
Demise“ style cover. Nothing special but yet a solid demo CD. I
could imagine that these guys are able to kick some ass on stage.
You can order this CD under
www.necromorph.net
Tim Klöcker
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NECRONOCLAST
The Plague
(Moribund Cult)
44:26min
From
the UK, a one man Black Metal band…how original you should
say…well, this is actually one of the best one man bands I have
heard in long time, no matter what style. Even the drums, which are
programmed, sound quite good, but with the limitations that can be
achieved with those. Musically speaking the brand of Black Metal
presented here, is heavy guitar driven, quite melodic at times, and
mostly doomy or mid-paced although there are some bursts of speed. I
tried to compare the sound to some other bands, but it was hard.
They sound like a suicidal Black Metal band on steroids, and that is
probably the most accurate description of the overall sound. Maybe
some early KATATONIA will be a good reference, and I can smell some
early BURZUM influence, although this is far superior both in
execution and arrangements. Sometimes I feel the vocals are not
actually saying a damn thing, as they are way very morbid,
but they are quite enjoyable. As many Black Metal bands in a
similar style, it is obvious that some riffs tend to repeat over and
over in some sort of trance inducting ritual, and if you are a fast
Metal freak this can drive you a bit insane in desperation. Also,
most of the songs are lengthy ones, none less than five minutes. One
of the best songs in this disc, and the most representative of the
quality here is 'Necronoclast' (yes, as the band's name). Although
it is a song in the eight minute mark, it does possess quite a
variety of moods, yet not being boring, and while sounding suicidal
and depressive, it also does sound powerful. A nice choice to have a
good production rather than a lousy thin guitar sound as some other
pretenders use in similar style. If the sole member once decides to
use a human drummer (to add more human emotion to the depressive
sound) and just cranks a bit more the guitars up, they will reign in
the realm of depressive melodic Black Metal. As it is, this is a
very good release (among the best Moribund has done) so prepare thy
blades and join the plague of spilling blood…your own blood. www.moribundcult.com
Julian Nuñez
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NECRONOCLAST
Haven
(Moribund Cult)
49:49min
Death, depression and suicidal thoughts…those are the images bring forth while
listening to this, the third spell of this one man band from the U.K. This is
hardly an style I would expect from those lands, as it indeed sounds
a lot more from bands hailing from neighbor countries in a more northern
location…although they claim influence from bands like BURZUM and mid-era
KATATONIA, there is more for sure. To call this suicidal Black Metal will not
exactly define the overall style. Yes, there is a certain reference to bands
like SHINING and the aforementioned BURZUM, although there is a very good
balance between the mid-tempo parts, which must be said, are the majority here,
and some fast bursts of anger but played with amore conviction than the other
infamous one man band. The vocal delivery is also used in a very effective way,
giving that macabre touch to the music, and sounding desperate enough to create
that agonizing sound that is just goes along like blood and knife within the
powerful production. Yes, the guitars are there and although I assume this is a
programmed drum machine, by the glory of dark lords, it does sound (in) human.
It might be the entropy sound of the music, but nothing sounds here mechanical,
if yet hypnotic, and trance-like. Sometimes I refer this band to those
ritual-inducing sounds that can be found in WATAIN or ONDSKAPDT. After releasing
three attacks to the heart of Christ, the maturity the band has reached for
surely puts them in the right way. For a one man band, I must state that I am
impressed in the way the visions of the only member Greg, has been able to
depict with sounds such a desolate and gleam scenes. 'Beneath The Embers Of Time'
comes out as one of the most glorious tracks of this suicidal style, with a grim
atmosphere, and many rhythm changes, which still at the end hypnotizes the
listener to an abrupt end. Most of the songs are well over the 5 minutes mark,
but that even with the desolate passages when using acoustic guitars, it just
feels quite natural and flows in and endless way to oblivion. 'Deathless' is
another majestic piece of pure depression and majestic rising…rise into the
realm of no death, just suffering. “Haven” is an album that deserves more
than one listen, in a dark and cold night…and even if it does sound like
depressive, there is an imminent sense of power surrounding it all. Morbid, yes,
depressive, yes, yet also very powerful and maybe even spirit inspiring. It is
the kind of albums that makes you want to go and find out about if their
previous works have this same quality. Of the things Moribund have released in
the last years, no doubt, this is one of the best. Atmospheric and grim Black Metal
followers…enter “Haven”… www.necronoclast.com,
www.moribundcult.com
Julián Núñez
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NECRONOMICON
Pharaoh Of Gods
(Unique Leader)
54:10min
This is actually an “old” album that was released the first time back in
1999 by Canadian label Hypnotic Records (Voivod,
Kataklysm etc.), but that release was never sold in more than
1000 copies, so now Unique Leader has decided to do something about that. To
give you an idea about were we are musically I would say that it’s somewhere
between old Morbid Angel and some Nile
(without being as brutal), but I guess that it has a lot to do with the
production and the whole feeling in the music. The music generally got a great
flow and here and there some great riffs, but I think that the tracks are a bit
long overall, about five minutes. They got some rather weird breaks (imagine a
break with just bass and lead guitar) that I think ruins some of the songs a bit.
They also got these Alas kind of
female pieces, that I don’t really like (I still haven’t heard female vocals
in Death Metal that I thought were great actually…). There are also a lot of
these elements / intro pieces that bands like Nile
have become very known for, you know, slow passages with different exotic
instruments. Since the recording of this album main man Rob
"the Witch" has changed the rest of the line up, so it will be
interesting to see what they come up with next time ! Check this one out.
Sigtyr
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NECRONOMICON
Revenge Of The Beast
(Xtreem Music)
50:03min
It was a long way for this German cult act before they finally had
been in the position to release their 6th record in 25 years of
existence. In detail we are talking about exactly 2172 km from their
old record company in Hamburg (Remedy Records) to their new label of
trust - Xtreem Music based in Madrid / Spain. Due to my lazy parents
I missed the golden Thrash times and underground bands like DESASTER
are my real connection to all the well known German cult acts. But
your day of birth isn’t of any importance when it comes to the
essence of every Metalhead – his / her metalized blood. And I
promise that during the first listening session to “Revenge Of The
Beast” your metalized blood will start to boil. The album has been
recorded in 2007 and since the split with the their old label
(rumors are talking about a certain kind of commercial
disappointment – so to support the underground idea has been
finally executed in Hamburg) the band has been on the quest to find
a trustworthy label and finally signed a deal with Xtreem Music
(founded out of the ashes of Repulse Records). So all bad things
must come to an end and “Revenge Of The Beast” has been finally
released in December 2008. NECRONOMICON's music is typical German
Thrash with some further ‘foreign’ influences (Spanish &
acoustic guitars) which connects the band with for example scene
giant GRIP INC (‘Commit Suicide’).The band’s major aim is to
play live and so you should not expect any kind of extreme technical
guitar duel - the focus is the headbang factor of every song.
Founding member Freddy - the voice of NECRONOMICON - is doing a
fantastic job because the real Thrash assaults (‘On Pain Of
Death’) but much more impressing the calmer songs (‘One
Universe’) are getting a further layer through is remarkable
vocals. Can’t find any disappointing song and I know that this
release will stay in my personal top ten for weeks. “Revenge Of
The Beast” is a release with not too many edges and everybody who
is looking for 50 minutes of fine German Thrash with a certain touch
of Heavy Metal vibes can currently acquire no better album than this
release. www.necronomicon-online.de;
www.xtreemmusic.com
Matthias
Auch
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NECROPHAGIA
A Legacy Of Gore, Horror And Sickness
(Baphomet / Necropolis)
61:04min
It seems that the reincarnation of NECROPHAGIA has set some old Death Metal
fanatics hearts aflame. What with the release of their most recent album "Holocausto…"
and the constant resurrecting of demos, live tracks and what else have you.
NECROPHAGIA seem intent on letting us all know that they have been there, done
that, worn the shirt and are going keep doing it. ‘A Legacy…’ catalogues
their infamous demos from 86 and before, including for those truly perverted
souls some horrid live tracks to boot. And what can you say of 80’s
NECROPHAGIA? Well, it’s 100% in the same style as their more recent recordings
yet it is more horrid, rotten and down right necro! It reminds of me of a hybrid
HELLHAMMER being attacked by those delightful Fulci zombies we hear so much
about. The music is simple, raw and coarse. I mean really simple here people!
The riffs are so damn simplistic one may wonder how they even got away with it!
This particular CD encompasses NECROPHAGIA in their formative years and really
is only for die hard fans of the band. I doubt those of you who were first
introduced to NECROPHAGIA via their ‘Holocausto…’ CD and their ‘Black
Blood Vomitorium’ MCD would go in for this it’s that raw. But if you are
truly necro goat pervert, this my friends is for you!
Darragh O’ Leary
alternative review:
This is far better than I originally
expected it to be... You know, I read a lot of reviews before I finally got
ahold of a copy of this NECROPHAGIA release myself (thanx Matt!) and
there was always talk about how bad the sound quality of this disc is... But
hey, the featured demo recordings from 1986 are not thaaaat bad – they are
actually pretty cool, and that's already more than 50% of this release (eleven
out of nineteen tracks, to be totally exact), so... Only 'Ancient Slumber' and
'Mental Decay' made it onto NECROPHAGIA's classic debut album "Seasons
Of The Dead" later on, so this is highly interesting stuff. And if you
remember that this was done way before any real Black or Death Metal movement
ever existed, you will certainly agree that NECROPHAGIA in general and Killjoy's
insane vocal delivery in particular was way ahead of its time. This is sick,
this is brutal, this is raw as fuck - composed with a lot more feeling involved
than almost anything that gets released in perfect quality these days and very
simple structured (obviously due to the poor musical abilities of the members
back then; especially the drumming sucks big time...). But I still immensely
enjoy this! The riffing is almost as intense as older SLAYER (not reaching their
quality of course, but I suppose you will get the point...) and Killjoy's
unmistakable way of spitting out his gory lyrics up till now is (still)
extremely unique. The remaining eight songs date back to 1984, have originally
been released as the first and second NECROPHAGIA demo (except for 'Insane
For Blood' also all unreleased elsewhere) and are for die hards only
(because of their rehearsal recording quality). This is primitive and sloppy,
but still a very entertaining history lesson in brutal music. The CD comes as a
nicely packaged digipack with liner-notes from MAYHEM's Maniac.
Frank Stöver
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NECROPHAGIA
Necrotorture + Sickcess (DVD)
(Red Stream)
120:00min
Friends of horror beware! NECROPHAGIA crawls again out of the guts of visual
hell to show us what they have experienced there... The DVD is divided in three
sections: part one "Necrotorture" is their whole live gig shot on their
European tour 2003 in Spain. You get 15 songs from all NECROPHAGIA albums until
then, lots of blood, some life-butchering, Killjoy dancing with the dead (man, this guy really
has the size of a hobbit!), lots of Black Metalish corpsepaint (except
Mirai, the SIGH-Keyboarder, who is wearing a shredded skin mask – quite cool!)
a good sound and a convincing live performance. A good underground concert which
is best to be enjoyed with some friends, good beer and some fresh skin to eat (preferably
taken from some hot milk – yuk!). Part two is called "Sickcess" and gives
you a report from a guy from Toe Tag Pictures (a small US-movie company focused
on underground horror) on NECROPHAGIA. What starts really annoying at first
turns out to be a quiet funny and "shocking" documentary about some
"rumors" concerning the band. I don't want to tell you too much because that
could spoil the fun a little bit... Unfortunately it does not turn out to be as
cultish as their previous DVD "Through Eyes Of The Dead" but it still is
amusing. These guys just live for oldschool horror! Part three contains some
extras like a soundcheck (boring), a gallery (nice), some tour-bus stuff (well...)
and a cool report on Killjoy giving autographs (great!). The all-over look of
the DVD is pure undergound which fits perfectly - so all in all not a release to
be watched every day but yet satisfying for all fans of fine horror-music.
www.redstream.org,
www.necrophagia.com
(please be patient with
this site for it takes some time to load!)
Tim Klöcker
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NECROPHAGIST
Epitaph
(Relapse Records)
32:56min
I bet
"Epitaph" is one of the most awaited Death Metal albums in
the world-wide Death Metal underground. The outstanding debut album
"Onset Of Putrefaction" by this masters of complex and technically
brutality, which was recorded back in 1999, was one of the most
spectacular and impressive Death Metal debuts from Germany ever. The
only negative aspect was the limitation as a "one man orchestra"
which caused the use of a drum machine. Hell yeah, meanwhile
Muhammed, the genius head behind this band, re-built his band and
NECROPHAGIST nowadays consists of four human beings including a
drummer of flesh and blood. So my expectations were rather high. And
"Epitaph" definitely did not disappoint me, no way!!!
Muhammed delivered again breathtaking guitar leads, wonderful
harmonies and head splitting razor-sharp riffs. "Epitaph"
is an unbelievable masterpiece of neck breaking brutality which
intertwines with brain spinning musicianship. "Epitaph" is
a monument, a truly masterpiece of technically, complex but still
rather straight, dynamic, brutal and uncompromising ass kicking
Death Metal. I'm totally blown away by the virtuous guitar work and
the bone shaking brutal, deep and vicious vocals. If you
missed the brutality on the later DEATH albums, especially
concerning Chucks vocals, then "Epitaph" will be the
perfect album for you. Imagine the guitar work and the virtuosity of
"The Sound Of Perseverance" or "Symbolic"
performed in a much more brutal and furious way. "Epitaph"
is a must have, no doubt about it. Don't waste your time - buy this
album as soon as possible and bow to the "Epitaph"!!!
Hacker
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NECROPHOBIC
Bloodhymns
(Hammerheart Records)
46:00min
NECROPHOBIC would probably already belong for several years to the biggest bands
within the Death Metal scene if there would be any kind of justice in the music
scene. Unfortunately and despite the fact that this band is hailed by the
insiders for a long time, NECROPHOBIC never managed to outgrow their
underground-status so far. Much, if not everything, has to do with their old
label Black Mark who never really promoted the band or sent them on a decent
tour. With Hammerheart, NECROPHOBIC found a new label, hopefully things will
work out in a much better way with them. "Bloodhymns", the fourth
album is - just as all previous NECROPHOBIC releases – outstanding and the
ideal mixture of furious Black and Death metal. A comparison to a band like
DISSECTION (which was done rather often in the past) doesn’t do any justice to
"Bloodhymns" as NECROPHOBIC really managed to create an own sound in
the meantime. The major part of the songs on "Bloodhymns" are rather
fast and features very aggressive riffs and fine harmonies which are
somehow already NECROPHOBIC‘s trademark. You can also still hear very clearly
the influences of the Swedish sound of the early nineties (UNLEASHED, DISMEMBER...),
but those influences are worked out very well throughout the songs. The sound of
"Bloodhymns" is to my opinion also much more brutal than on the
previous output "The Third Antichrist". Let's hope that NECROPHOBIC
will be able to tour a lot to support this new album. Rumours about a possible
tour in June together with ANCIENT RITES and PRIMORDIAL (an excellent bill if
you ask me...) are already going around, hopefully this will also take place in
the end...
Steven Willems
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NECROPHOBIC
Hrimthursum
(Regain Records)
59:11min
NECROPHOBIC has been an entity lurking in the underground for about 16
years now and in my opinion they have never gotten the much deserved
recognition they rightfully earned. Their albums are somewhat hard to come
across for the average Metal fan and adding to that a poor advertisement of
their stuff by incompetent labels have contributed to gain the underrated
mark. The have the fire, defiant compositions and skills to stand alongside
the heavy weights of the Death / Black scene really hope this cooperation
with Regain Records do them good. After a somewhat annoying and kind of boring intro for my taste they burst
into the album opener 'Blinded By Light, Enlightened By Darkness', which is a
good taster for the hell to come. Subsequent tracks like 'I Strike With
Wrath', 'Age Of Chaos' (my fave tune!), 'Eternal Winter', 'Serpents (Beneath
The Forest Of The Dead)', 'Sitra Ahra' and many others will make you bang your head
as if there was no end. NECROPHOBIC show the beginners how Death / Black must be played with class,
conviction and musical talent in the most purest form. Whenever you buy this
album you won't get 60+ min of the usual boring and dull stuff we are
bombarded with lately and that I can sign it with blood! There is not a single doubt this band momentum is now, they are at their
peak and I would like everybody to keep a close eye on their upcoming opuses
because they are up for something special. Make sure to check out the video
for one of the album tracks at their site:
www.necrophobic.net.
Mario Cubero
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NECROPHOBIC
Death To All
(Regain Records)
44:50min
Then I saw the
lamb open the sixth seal. There was a powerful earthquake. The sun
turned as black as sackcloth made of hair, and the full moon turned
as red as blood – the sixth NECROPHOBIC album can only be
introduced with this apocalyptic words from the book of lies.
NECROPHOBIC are for at least 10 years (“The Third Antichrist”
via Black Mark) one of the few bands which are in the position
to deliver one fantastic release after another. Even the downfall of
their second label Hammerheart Records couldn’t stop their fury
and since they safely arrived in the Regain family they are
releasing their Satanic Death Metal manifests on a regular basis.
Their last album “Hrimthursum” was in some way an experiment
with an extreme amount of “bombast” for the typical NECROPHOBIC
sound and “Death To All” has become the promised back to the
roots album. So the sky has turned black again and you can feel the
arriving thunderstorm from the first minute – the frostbitten
guitars and remarkable vocals by singer Tobias Sidegard and I
can’t deny some sweet memories to the opener ‘Rise Of The
Infernal' and 'The Third Of Arrivals’ from their “The Third
Antichrist” album. Think that especially this album is something
like a blueprint to “Death To All” – less bombast but still an
abyssal atmosphere. And with 'For Those Who Stayed Satanic' the
Swedish band has composed in some way the Death Metal version of 'The
Metal Will Never Die' (by the Weimar pony fans) – a perfect hymn
for all true followers. Only minor point of criticism is the cover
artwork which on one hand is quite to dark (the contrast is missing)
and on the other hand is the idea not really fresh because the
Italian Black Metal lunatics from ABORYM had used a very similar
layout for their “Generator“ release. Due to the resurrection of
the brothers in law UNANIMATED everybody will try to compare both
releases but I think the Death Metal world is big enough for two
great bands with two essential releases. So death to all
unbelievers! www.regainrecords.com,
www.necrophobic.net,
www.myspace.com/necrophobic
Matthias Auch
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NECROPSY
Deathprayer
(Noisehead Records)
43:43min
Great, NECROPSY are back again! Fucking great! Which NECROPSY you
may ask? The Finnish band, which released some cool demos back in
the early nineties? The German one which released the good “Some
Dark Impressions” 7” EP on Century Media back in 1991? Or one of
the countless other NECROPSY's all over the world? It’s the German
NECROPSY we are talking about here, but, no – they are not back,
it’s another NECROPSY in this case. “Deathprayer” is the debut
full-length of this German hopeful and even if it is not 100%
convincing I have to say that it has some great moments. First up I
like the brutal growling vocals a lot – really good! I like the
catchy and groovy riffs but unfortunately the drumsound doesn’t
impress me that much. Nevertheless I have to say that their
mid-tempo Death Metal tunes shred your ears the way they should and
make the listening experience to these 10 songs more than enjoyable.
Check out their tunes on their myspace-page
www.myspace.com/necropsynrnberg and get in touch with the band
directly to buy this album. Available
here, too.
Thomas Ehrmann
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NECROS / ABNORM
Split Tape
(Nihilistic Holocaust)
30:26min
A rather unimpressive looking product on the surface, but rest assured that this split will grab you by the throat and drag you to the underworld. The NECROS side of the split is steeped in INCANTATION and DEAD CONGREGATION riffing, and all the hellish acoutrements one might expect of that style. On the B-side is ABNORM, a more Black Metal oriented sounding band, but one that has no less forcefulness than NECROS. ABNORM operate on the thrashier side of Death Metal, with faster tempos and considerably tighter drumming. Unfortunately, the production values are not as deep and cavernous as the NECROS tracks, so the songs, though good, are a little subdued. Great stuff all things considered.
For more info and ordering details check out: www.myspace.com/necrosband,
www.myspace.com/thetrueabnormband,
http://site.voila.fr/NIHILISTIC/nihilisticdistrohtm.htm
Nat Shapiro
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NECROS
CHRISTOS
Grave Damnation (Demo CD)
(Worship Him Records)
17:48min
Germany's darkest unholy forces of death, doom and decay, NECROS
CHRISTOS are amongst us again, sowing around the most morbid and
satanic oldschool sounds of 'necromantic' Death Metal that is
out there nowadays. I don't care what others may say about them, but
for a relatively experienced oldschool Death Metal consumer that I
am, NECROS CHRISTOS brings Finland's ABHORRENCE to my mind more than
just momentarily when spinning around this absolutely, kinda
mind-provoking 4-song effort from them (yes, 4 actual songs – 4
intros, that's the recipe in here). The overall feeling is pretty
much the same compared to ABHORRENCE's ancient-reeking Death Metal
stuff; murky, twisted and crushing are just a few well-chosen
adjectives that come to my mind when NECROS CHRISTOS starts pumping
up venomous black blood into their well-trained, beast's biceps -
getting ready for unleashing a punishment of the ancient gods
against everyone who have guts to come on their way. But let's land
back to the firm ground again, I think it's somewhat fair to say
ABHORRENCE is that band that could probably be the closest possible
band in comparison to NECROS CHRISTOS. However, where ABHORRENCE
relied partly on grinding fast parts within their oldschool Death
Metal manifestation, NECROS CHRISTOS paints their own realm with
more eerie colors of doom and darkness – and they do it real well
indeed. It's like they are not here to spare anyone's lifes, but
taking them instead. Nevertheless, it's relatively easy to state
NECROS CHRISTOS are one of the finest and most convincing oldschool
Death Metal acts I have discovered lately, and I'm sure all the
recognition they have received thus far, is just the beginning for
them for better things ahead of them. Contact: www.darknessdamnationdeath.com.
Label: www.worshiphimrecords.com
Luxi Lahtinen
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NECROS CHRISTOS
Triune Impurity Rites
(Sepulchral Voice Records)
60:08min
Since the band's foundation in 2001, NECROS CHRISTOS could establish themselves within the underground as a guarantor for unholy, blasphemous, necromantic Death Metal rites with their much lauded demo and EP releases. Now, the time has finally come, the Berlin-based act celebrates its first full-length ceremony of sacrilege and fortunately "Triune Impurity Rites" proves to be the gloomy masterpiece everybody had hoped for! More atmospheric, more variable, darker, deadlier, NECROS CHRISTOS' 60 minutes long ritualistic opus invites the listener on a trip through occult soundscapes garnered with sinister church organs, forlorn acoustic guitar interludes, the obligatory introductory invocations (also called "temples"), and magnificent melodic, at times oriental flavoured guitar leads, resulting in a high amount of diversity being added to the overall rather simplistic musical style of the band. The album can roughly be structured into a triptych: the first part ranges from track 1-7, offering the strongest material the band has written so far, especially the aforementioned atmospheric elements shine through brightly here. The second part (track 8-14) is less diversified and delivers classic NECROS CHRISTOS stuff including older hymns like 'Black Mass Desecration' and 'Last Rite Of Christ'. Part 3 (track 15-23) offers a new version of 'Impure Burials Prevail' (yessss!!!!) as well as the outstanding three hymns forming the album's title track. Whereas Part 2 comes across rather conventional after the formidable start, part 3 is again absolutely brilliant and evokes darkness, damnation and death in sheer perfection. Overall, "Triune Impurity Rites" is a masterpiece of hypnotizing, black magickal Death Metal with a strong emphasis on doomier tempos and atmosphere, something most "Death Metal" releases nowadays lack. Fantastic album and destined to be an all-time classic!
www.todeskult.de,
www.darknessdamnationdeath.com,
www.sepulchralvoice.de
Stefan Franke
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NECROSPHERE
Revived
(Die Hard Music)
39:33min
Holy shit, it seems that Italy's Death Metal underground is getting stronger and
stronger these days. Next to HORRID and NECROFLESH here's another completely
convincing band by the name of NECROSPHERE that easily managed to blow me away.
Even though "Revived" is the "official" debut full
length of this fourpiece, they have already been active since 1988 under the way
too often used CENOTAPH moniker and released two albums ("Thirteen
Threnodies" in 1994 and "Heart And Knife" in 1997).
Don't know if they changed musically in any way, but to be perfectly honest, I
don't really care as "Revived" is such an intense offering,
that their older stuff only could've been weaker. NECROSPHERE's main influence
is quite obviously vintage SLAYER ("Hell Awaits" / "Reign
In Blood" period), which results in a whole lot of musical references
to the Thrash gods. No matter if it's the speedy drumming, the heavy riffing or
the insane soloing, these guys must've worshipped the records of L.A.'s finest
to death. But you'll hear a lot of other extremely raw Thrash elements in their
music as well. Some parts on the record do remind me on SODOM in their heydays,
while the whole vocal delivery varies between extremely raw Thrash (kinda
similar to ANGEL CORPSE's Pete Helmkamp) and brutal Death Metal. This hellish
and totally devastating mixture works perfectly well and gets even more exciting
through the band's very well executed cover of SLAYER's 'Necrophiliac'.
All in all a totally fresh, yet very brutal sounding offering, from a very
promising band that luckily doesn't follow any current fashion and hopefully
will get a lot of attention because of their undeniable class!
Frank Stöver
BACK
NECROSTUPRUM
Aeons Of Witching Madness (Demo 2009)
(Under Production)
15:33min
One would think that after decades of "necro" seemingly in
every other band's repertoire, people would grow tired of it.
Apparently there's no law of diminishing returns when "necro"
is concerned. More than a word now, it describes a sound, and a
distinctly evil facet of the Heavy Metal spirit. Featuring members
of SLUGATHOR and THRONEUM, this joint project is about as "necro"
as it gets. The bass is gristly, the riffs likewise, the vocals
twisted with rage, and the drums deep. This demo is a pleasure to
listen to, and what's more, NECROSTUPRUM are faithful to the tape
format. A demo is not a true demo unless it's on tape, and "Aeons
Of Witching Madness" is as true a demo as you can hope for in
2010. Monstrous.
Nat Shapiro
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NECROTIC FLESH
Postmortem Pleasures (MCD)
(MDD)
25:31min
Being formed in 2001 and undergoing different line-up changes, the German Death Metal outfit NECROTIC FLESH is now back again to present us their first mini-album. And the wait has not been useless. They deliver really great Death Metal with a certain kind of oldschool appeal. Proud of not avoiding any clichés regarding music or lyrics, you will not find any "modern" elements on this output. Covering the whole spectrum from slow to fast, with deep growled vocals, NECROTIC FLESH manage to make the listener clear why Death Metal is characterised by the word "brutal". Song titles like 'Suffer From A Very Slow Amputation' or 'Prenatal Decomposed' should give you a hint, that the lyrics are more in the vein of Goregrind or early CANNIBAL CORPSE, which is underlined by some movie-samples. Another trademark of NECROTIC FLESH is the mixture of the typical American Death Metal with some fine Swedish sounding Death Metal riffs. So all in all a really enjoyable Death Metal release and hopefully we do not have to wait four years for the next release.
www.necroticflesh.de
Mirco Szymyslik
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NECROTIC
FLESH
Gore Gourmet
(MDD)
34:05min
It’s time for oldschool Death Metal once again. “If there’s no
more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth”. This line of
Romero’s classic “Dawn Of The Dead” was inspiration for the
great and groopy opening song / intro ‘Walk Of The Dead’, this
makes sure that NECROTIC FLESH stick to their gory roots. They go
even further with using samples of other splatter movies as intros
for a couple of their songs on this recording. This is probably not
the most original idea and done thousand of times before but as it
fits to NECROTIC FLESH and its overall gory approach I couldn’t
care less. For those who haven’t heard about NECROTIC FLESH so far
should know that next to their gory lyrics (just listen to song
titles as ‘Searching For Brain Liquor’, ‘Fucking Her Butchery
Wounds’, ‘Bury In Excrements’ or the title track) it’s Death
Metal with influences from old GRAVE, AUTOPSY, old DEATH and
especially PUNGENT STENCH. The label itself even talks about
NECROTIC FLESH probably being the unofficial successors of PUNGENT
STENCH. Well, why not. “Gore Gourmet” is the first full-length
recording of this 3-piece band and the follower of their already
quite good MCD “Postmortem Pleasures”. From my point of view
these guys did a huge development in the right direction as the
included 8 tracks on this CD show them from their best (gory?) side.
I’m not sure, but I think I saw NECROTIC FLESH live 3 times now
and each time they impressed me a lot, as it is not naturally that a
3-piece outfit can create such an impressive wall of sound. And in
my humble opinion this CD is even more impressive. It reflects the
oldschool spirit of the above mentioned bands and songs as
‘Recently Deceased’, the catchy ‘Funeral Flesh Feat’,
‘Sexual Impalement’ or the cool ‘Breeding Ground For
Parasites’ show a huge potential and force me to write that this
is a CD worth to spend your money on. At the end of this review I
can recommend this CD to all those of you who love their Death Metal
oldschool and dirty. Fans of AUTOPSY, old DEATH and especially
PUNGENT STENCH will love this release, and so do I! Check it out at www.mdd-shop.de,
which is, by the way, a great mailorder with very good prices!
Thomas Ehrmann
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NECROVATION
Chants Of Grim Death 7"
(Blood Harvest Records)
13:19min
Holy shit, this is incredibly cool stuff! NECROVATION not only went
for a bandname, logo and overall b/w sleeve design in the good old
early 90s underground tradition (the latter surprisingly courtesy of
our French connection, monsieur Nathaniel "Mutilating
Process" Colas!), they also deliver excellent music of a
similar kind! Raw as fuck, straight ahead oldschool Death thrashing
Metal, totally unimpressed by current trends or production standards
(meant in a positive sense here of course!) and musically somewhere
in between their like minded Swedish fellows KAAMOS, REPUGNANT,
VERMINOUS or MURDER SQUAD without copying any of them in particular!
There's four tracks on this 7", three brandnew tunes, that
didn't appear on their previously released "Ovations To
Putrefaction" demo tape and one cover of the old MERCILESS
crusher 'Pure Hate', which turned out even more brutal in the
NECROVATION version! I already played this little fucker to death
since I received it, simply because the band sounds so refreshing
and straight from the heart! So, make sure to order yourself a copy
right away (it's limited to 500 copies only!), cause if you miss out
on it, you will definitely regret it rather quickly! "Chants Of
Grim Death" is without a doubt destined to become another
classic in the history of Swedish Death Metal sometime in the near
future! It sells for 50 SEK / $6 (ppd.) from the following address:
Blood
Harvest Records, Box 7092, 20042 Malmö, Sweden, website: www.bloodharvest.se.
The band's website can be found at www.necrovation.tk
Frank
Stöver
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NECROVATION
Breed Deadness Blood
(Blood Harvest Records)
38:02min
Since I heard NECROVATION for the first time I was totally impressed
by them. The first contact I had with their music was with their
“Chants Of Grim Death” 7”EP, later on I bought the “Curse Of
The Subconscious” split 7" together with the great Thrashers
from CORRUPT and finally I got their “Ovations To Putrefaction”
demotape a while later through trading. All in all I have to say
that these releases are killers, nothing more nothing less. But what
about this recording, NECROVATION’s first full-length recording?
It’s a fact that many underground / demo bands can impress quite a
lot with 3-4 song demotapes or EPs, recording 40 minutes of their
own songs shows many bands in a complete different light. Many
can’t convince anymore or prove that a full-length release is far
too early for them! Luckily this wasn’t the case for NECROVATION
as “Breed Deadness Blood” turned out to be a fuckin’ killer
once more! They still stick to their putrid oldschool Death Metal
with influences from KAAMOS, VERMINOUS and mostly REPUGNANT. As I
don’t know what’s up with VERMINOUS and as KAAMOS and REPUGNANT
ceased to be it’s great to have at least one band continuing this,
in my point of view, totally untrendy brand of Death Metal. The
album includes 9 songs and none of them was released before, no
re-recording of an old demo- or EP-songs (huh? At least 'Putrid
Evocation' already appeared on the "Ovations To
Putrefaction" demo my dear Mr.Ehrmann - Frank). Don’t ask me
why, but the interview which is on its way back to me sooner or
later will surely answer that. I won’t pick out one or two of the
best songs of this recording as I think that all of them are great.
For me, “Breed Deadness Blood” could be the perfect follow-up of
REPUGNANT’s “Epitome Of Darkness” album. I have to finish this
review once more with the words from the label itself: “9 hymns
for all the necromaniacs and worshippers of putrid, raw oldschool
Death Metal.” That’s it! Before I forget it, this is the first
CD-release from Blood Harvest Records, the vinyl version should be
available end of March 2008! If possible order both, the LP and the
CD, of this godly piece of oldschool Death Metal from www.bloodharvest.se
immediately, haha! One of the best albums of the still very young
year 2008! Don’t forget to check out the Voices pages the next
couple of days as the NECROVATION interview should be online pretty
soon!
Thomas Ehrmann
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NECROVOMIT
Demo I 2007
(self-financed)
40:47min
What can you expect from a band who’s members are calling
themselves ”Black Angel Of Doom”, “Necromolestor”,
“Stabwounds Slaughter”, “NecroLouder” and “Bestial Torment
Of Evil”? Yezz, it’s time for chaotic Black Death Metal taking
influences from BLASPHEMY, SARCOFAGO, BEHERIT, IMPALED NAZARENE or
PROFANATICA to name just a few. Actually this review could stop
already here as fans of the above mentioned bands can check out this
7-song demotape to please their needs. For those persons it will be
a feast to discover this band, for common Death and Thrash Metal
lovers this is probably far too chaotic, but that’s the case for
BLASPHEMY and BEHERIT, too. The sound on this demotape is probably
not what you would call “professionally recorded”, though it’s
pretty good and especially good enough to hear each instrument,
which can’t be taken for granted in this type of Metal. This 40
minutes massacre starts with a spoken intro, probably a priest
preaching something in Italian (NECROVOMIT is an Italian band by the
way), I don’t understand a word though as my Italian is far too
bad – Vaffanculo!!! An interesting intro anyway. After these 2
minutes of atmosphere it’s time for NECROVOMIT’s blackish Death
Metal massacre, as I said, quite chaotic and strangely enough it
varies a lot from midtempo to ultrafast attacks. Although this is
probably not 100% what I was expecting I can advice those who enjoy
the older recordings from the abovementioned bands to give this tape
a try. Check out www.myspace.com/thetruenecrovomit
for soundsamples. The tape version (limited to 66 copies) goes for 5
€ and the CD-R version (limited to 267 copies) goes for 4 €.
Trades are also welcome if I’m not wrong here!!
Thomas
Ehrmann
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NECROVOROUS
Crypt Of The Unembalmed Cadavers (Demo 2009)
(self-financed)
08:39min
I recently read that Blood Harvest Records is about to release a
7”EP called “Crypt Of Unembalmed Cadavers” from these Greek
newcomers, sharing another “Necro”-name. Therefore I’m not
really sure if this 2 song demotape is available for the crowd or
more something like a promo release. The release itself looks quite
official with a copied cover, tracklist and everything necessary so
feel free to ask them. As I said, two songs are offered here with
morbid and ugly Death Metal, with a slight AUTOPSY touch.
‘Moribund’ starts with an interesting acoustic intro and
convinces among the most important with its ugly and brutal Death
Metal simply in the vein of AUTOPSY back at “Severed Survival”
and “Mental Funeral”. Same goes for the title track which is
even more in the “Mental Funeral” vein. The sound is a little
bit sloppy but we are talking here about an underground demo release
and not another Mathcore release offered from Relapse Records. And
besides that, an AUTOPSY-influenced band can’t have a great sound,
right? I like it this way and NECROVOROUS are pretty good in what
they are doing. For maniacs of the Death Metal underground movement
this band is worth to support and I’m waiting what their next
output will offer which is supposedly a full-length recording to be
released on Blood Harvest announced for mid 2010. Check out www.myspace.com/necrovorous
and ask if this tape and their former releases are still available.
Thomas Ehrmann
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NECROWRETCH
Rising From Purulence (Demo 2008)
(self-financed)
14:43min
Necro-Basement-Death Metal this is. NECROWRETCH, a newcomer from France play
oldschool Death in a vein that resembles the times of tape trading and bad-paper fanzines.
The band consists of only two members - Gutsfucker and Blastphemator. The names are put here just to inform you about their intentions. And they are good ones - to bring hell, nothing less, upon the hearing of unprepared is their mission. Cacophonous fucked-up maelstrom of a sound is their signature but they topple it with a great deal of melody. Swedish stuff is all over the place - melody, delivery, morbidity, attitude.
The vocals shriek like a Death Metal venomous snake spilling its guts out - something like the vocals in DOMINI
INFERI (Dutch Black Metal band), only harsher. The bass is reminiscent of another Black Metal band, France's ARPHAXAT - chainsawing the innocent with pure barbaric intent. It is funny that I put a Black Metal
comparison in front of Death Metal ones, but it only shows these guys use any possible means to slay. Be assured though, this is Death Metal in its virginal purity.
The drums and guitar top all this and make it a pure pleasure to hear. Except for
the production... which is simply shit. Production is always a controversial theme among purists and I like bad
ones, but under one condition - it must enhance the overall listening experience in a good way. Here, that is not the case. Due to the constant buzzing it is impossible to listen to this album with maximum volume on - which is a shame. You see what I mean? But wait... I am not sure anymore. Maybe it is used to the effect of putting the innocence of these youths upfront? You decide.
The release is fairly short with the tracks clocking around two minutes each. This is very interesting because a lot of ideas are displayed in songs and this shortness was, for sure, done intentionally. This demo, in my opinion, serves as a spirited foretaste of a many great things we can expect from
this band in the future. I cannot wait for their full length and I am sure it will storm the Death Metal world when unleashed. This is fresh, full of youthful vigour and love of all things dead and rotten. Recommended.
www.myspace.com/vladrituals
Branko Matijašević
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NEFARIUM
Haeretichristus
(Agonia Records)
35:02min
"Nefarium
hail from the extreme north…of Italy." That’s exactly what the promo-sheet tells us. Well, that’s too bad for them since they’re trying so hard to be the next DARK FUNERAL. But at least Chaq Mol from above-mentioned bongo-ballet has a guest spot somewhere on this. Blasting drums, standard ‘satan, sex and sodomy’ fanfare with all the old familiar melodies entwined make for another piece of utter boredom. By the way, being the
superficial and embittered Wannabe I truly am, I can’t think of any respectable Black Metal band whose members still sport bald heads AND corpsepaint, known amongst
Black Metal fashion-junkies as the ‘Graf von Beelzebub’-look. Guess what their vocalist looks like... The whole time I had to listen through this I was asking myself if this was more exciting if it still was 1991 and this would mark my first encounter with this new underground movement called Black Metal. Would have probably saved me lots of money since I most likely would have stayed with my 2 UNLIMITED - CD’s instead. Anyway, you guys better should stick to your tattoo-studio since I can’t think of anybody who really needs the
665th copy of a style that has worn itself out more than ten years ago...
www.nefarium.org
Torsten Gründig
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NEFAS
Seven Times Seven
(Bones Brigade Records)
36:19min
I
wasn't really aware of these guys before and certainly wouldn't even
have considered checking them out (first of all because of their
rather weird band name, which - just like their lyrics - is probably
also inspired by the ancient abysmal Babylonian and Sumerian deities)
if I hadn't received a free review copy from Bones Brigade. And man,
what a killer act I would've missed out on then! NEFAS is a highly
talented and rather steady three piece from sunny Italy, that has
already been around since 1995 but still plays in the same line-up.
They released their debut demo "He Was Born" in 1997, a
mini CD ("Transfiguration To The Ancients Form") on
Nuclear Abominations Records about two years later and a split mini
CD with BASTARD SAINTS ("Ropes Above An Abyss Of Fury") on
The Flood Records in 2001. According to their info sheet they
originally played a very Swedish inspired form of fast'n'brutal
Death Metal, but must've changed that somewhere on the way as this
debut full length only allows one comparison in particular: the gods
of unholy Death Metal, IMMOLATION! Yes, this is really as
impressive, from the deep and brutal Ross Dolan like vocal delivery,
to the twisted guitarwork up to the complex songwriting and overall
very dark atmosphere - NEFAS really come rather close (in every
aspect) to Yonkers finest! The production is perfect (not too clean,
not too cheap or rehearsal like sounding), the cover art (courtesy
of Poland's Graal) amazing and the songs themselves somewhere in
between "Dawn Of Possession" and "Here In
After", but still too good to be labeled a poor rip off!! NEFAS
is brutal, blasphemous and complex, but always right into your face
and therefore a highly dangerous, uprising force in the
international Death Metal underground! Beware! Band contacts: nefas_xul@yahoo.it
or nafas1@infinito.it,
http://come.to/nefas
The label's website is: www.bonesbrigaderecords.com
Frank Stöver
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NEGATIVE CREEPS
Mutual Annihilation
(Black Lotus Records)
42:05min
NEGATIVE CREEPS don't exactly give me the creeps and I wasn't off
the rocker when I checked their current output either. This Greek
outfit was founded beginning of the 90s and around 1998 they started
to play so-called Satancore. This says it all really. NEGATIVE
CREEPS stand for hardcore elements combined with contemporary
extreme Metal ingredients such as Death and Black Metal components.
The vocals sound like a mixture of Max Cavalera and Robert Flynn.
The guitar riffs are groovy, a bit crust here and there, some
stakkato cadences --- every now and then some whammy solos. The
drums are mid-paced, some mediocre blast-beats (is that the Death
Metal element discussed in the endlosed leaflet?!). The bass pumps
from below. This band follows the tradition that acts such as DEW-SCENTED,
HATEBREED, HEAVEN SHALL BURN, BIOHAZARD etc. have established. I
think the production is ok(ish... don't liek the bass drum sound!!!),
but definitely not a blast as the record company claims. I really
think the guitars could be way more aggressive and the songs more
varied. As you can sense from this evaluation, firstly I am not into
this kind of music and secondly... this really lacks identity. The
outfit in question sounds a bit like the 666th clone of all those
mediocre New Metal combos pestering and challenging my sense of
humour day by day. Definitely musicians who know how to handle their
instruments and all that --- but honestly, no identity whatsoever
from my point of view. www.black-lotus-recs.com
F. Cthulhu E.
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NEGATIVE REACTION
Everything You Need For Galactic Battle Adventures
(Game Two Records / PsycheDOOMelic Records)
49:38min
This
three piece from Long Island offers us a very strange album, that’s
for sure! They have tried to combine ultra-heavy Doom Metal with
some Hardcore and Psychedelic elements, and the result comes up very
convincing, even if I must admit the vocals got on my nerves in no
time and could repel a lot of people. NEGATIVE REACTION use a lot of
diverse influences, sometimes they sound like a heavier version of
BLACK SABBATH and CATHEDRAL, sometimes they bent more for sludge /
funeral Doom. In fact, they have a lot in common with the new breed
of bands hosted by the Relapse Records label, like MASTODON, SOILENT
GREEN and even CEPHALIC CARNAGE on some occasions (considering the
latter have explored the Doom field with their latest MCD
"Halls Of Amenti"). The production of this CD is
absolutely crushing, the groove being ever present thanks to a tight
as hell rhythm section, the bass lines in particular are punishing.
Like I said before, the idea to use Hardcore–oriented shrieks and
screams is not very good in the NEGATIVE REACTION case, but after
all it is purely a matter of taste. The album really lifts off from
the third cut on, let’s say that the two first tracks are rather
average, so don’t judge this album by only listening to them. What
appears as a the strongest point here is that the NEGATIVE REACTION
music sounds fresh and brings forth a new form of extremity in Metal,
so that’s a change from the legion of middle of the road bands
relying on safe formulas. Oddly enough, I even found a riff more or
less stolen from WITCHFINDER GENERAL on the ‘Scum And ViIlany’
track while the standout track is for me ‘Price On A Head’, with
its fantastic chorus, where vocalist / guitarist Ken E. Bones eerily
sound like a demented Tim Baker (CIRITH UNGOL) on steroids. Well, I
can’t say much more about this CD, except for the fact that I
warmly recommend it to your attention. Stay away from this if you
can’t stand Doom at all, but in case you are a Doom devotee like
yours truly, buy this without delay, because NEGATIVE REACTION (a
risky moniker) have certainly a lot to offer. Not essential, but
worth to listen. More info at:
http://www.psycheDOOMelic.com.
Edouard Vergriete
BACK
NEGURA BUNGET
‘N Crugu Bradului
(Code 666 / SPV)
53:40min
Highly
original! Not counting a mini album and the ’95 demo, "‘N Crugu
Bradului" is already the third album of Transsylvanian Pagan Black Metal
outfit NEGURA BUNGET. Differently from other paganizers, they keep it bloody and
to a certain extend primitive, meaning the band neither belongs to the high-tech
ones nor to the bunglers. Furthermore, the keyboards are kept in the background.
The album comes up with an interesting concept: each of the four long songs
represents a season and the changes it brings to nature. NEGURA BUNGET neatly
integrate Romanian folk elements and take you on a journey to their home
country. This does not mean they use any folk instruments – we hear the
classic Metal axes, keyboards and stuff – somehow it’s the approach to the
songwriting. I find it more melancholic, yet lighter than classic Black Metal.
And a bit weird in a positive sense. Slight point of criticism: the clean vocals
don’t sound convincing to me. This CD will be delivered in a handmade deluxe
box and I do recommend it to sickos into exotic (Black) Metal indeed. By the
way: you can simulate the circle of the seasons at home by pressing the repeat
button! www.negurabunget.com
Ramon Claassen
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NEGURA BUNGET
Maiestrit
(Prophecy Productions)
75:25min
NEGURA BUNGET’s most important aim has never changed over the
years - the transfer of the majestic and dark side of mother nature
into music. Several years have passed since the release of their
fabulous "Om" record, the band toured intensively
throughout Europe with impressed audiences everywhere but with
"Maiestrit" the story ends. The band split up during 2009
– with a totally different understanding within the band what
split up means – and everything which remains from the original
line up are a discography full of outstanding releases and their
final piece of art – the re-recording / new interpretation of
their "Maiastru Sfetnic" release. In comparing the new
version with the Bestial Records version (originally released in
2000) you will only partly succeed because the original songs are
like ruins surrounded by misty shadows - only partly visible. What
the new version could not change is the enormous quality of songs
like “In Zvicnirea Apusului”. The effect of the “rusty sickle”
– my personal interpretation of this effect - gives this ten
minute song a special place within the whole NEGURA BUNGET cosmos.
The bonus tracks in form of 2 accoustic versions are furthermore the
best proof that there is no need for vocals to create a breathtaking
atmosphere. As usual for the Prophecy family is this release –
next to the normal digipack version – also available in a strictly
limited art-box full of supporting pictures etc. “Maiestrit”
shows again why this Rumanian band deserves such a special place
within the whole Black Metal scene and also in my own heart but
nevertheless it’s also a moment to accept the fact that NEGURA
BUNGET are gone and everything which remains is bleak silence. More
info at www.prophecy.cd,
www.myspace.com/negurabunget
Matthias Auch
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NEHËMAH
Light Of A Dead Star
(Oaken Shield)
54:08min
The old values of nordic Black Metal are held high by more and more upcoming
bands these days again. NEHËMAH from our neighbour country France are one of
them doing so and they have definitely found the right feeling to convince the
listener right away. After the fiery a very moodladen intro 'The Witch Burns...'
NEHËMAH strike forth with an uptempo crossbreaker in the vein of early IMMORTAL an alikes, including a kind of Chinese gong and some cool bass guitar
parts. Afterwards they enchant with a gloomy midtempo landscape using this great
atmospheric "old school" keyboardsound in the background we know of
e.g. early EMPEROR or GEHENNA. Next song starts as a midtempo hymn again before
it shortly changes into a furios highspeed part. With 'Nehëmah In Vulva
Infernum' you get a real bombastic hymn of depression and desolation whose
emotional and sorrowful melodies rip your soul apart. All in all a fine blend of
slow, midtempo and fast compositions is what you get on NEHËMAH's debut (?)
album. To sum it up NEHËMAH stand for cold, grim, atmospheric, eery, dark,
obscure and desolate Black Metal. The production is rough and shredding, but
always contains enough room to discover the (partly unusual) details. The rough
and powerful vocals are coming from somewhere out of the middleground like out
of a thick field of frosty fog. Eventhough NEHËMAH do not redefine the term Black
Metal (which surely was not the aim and from my point of view is not necessary
either) they have released a great bunch of quality compositions (in contrast to
the newer releases of the "big" bands from Norway). If early(!)
IMMORTAL, EMPEROR, GEHENNA, DARKTHRONE or CARPATHIAN FOREST belong to your faves
you better check this album out.
Thomas Georg
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NEHËMAH
Shadows
From The Past
(Oaken Shield / Adipocere Records)
57:29min
Sometimes, an album cover reveals all
about the music inside. Such is the case with “Shadows From The
Past”. The picture on the cover reminds me a famous Euronymus one
(used for a tribute to MAYHEM some years ago). So, without even
having heard a single note of
NEHËMAH ’s
music previously, I assumed the band play a raw and cold form of
Black Metal inherited from the Scandinavian scene of the beginning
of the 90’s, and I was right. In fact, the first track of this
release lead me to think that I would hate the album immensely, but
fortunately, this first impression vanished after a while. If you
see
NEHËMAH ’s
style as a respectful tribute to such pioneers as BATHORY, MAYHEM or
DARK THRONE, this point of view will surely help you to fully taste
“Shadows From The Past”. On the contrary, if you expect
groundbreaking stuff or
even a little spark of originality, I guess you should stay away
from this, so much
NEHËMAH take
great care to not cross the barrier of their musical territory. As
usual for this type of release, the production task was a little bit
rushed to say the least, but I reckon
NEHËMAH manage
to create a bleak and desperate atmosphere with their music.
Standout tracks are ‘The Thousand Tongues Of Medusa’ with nice
BATHORY overtones, and ‘Sigilum Sanctum Lycanthropia' obviously
carefully crafted. On the other hand, the title track is a too
simplistic and boring song (based on one riff with almost spoken
lyrics) while the “hymn” ‘Selvmord’ happens to be way too
long (almost hitting the 9 minutes mark) with
no variation in it, very monotonous stuff indeed! The real
surprise of this album is no other than an excellent BATHORY cover,
‘Call From The Grave’ offered as a hidden track (by the way, the
joke consisting of burning 33 tracks on a CD has grown very old!). I
realize that I forgot to mention that
NEHËMAH is
a French outfit, but they achieve the exploit to sound more
Norwegian than the Norwegians themselves. Like I said, a nice effort
to recreate a long past era of Black Metal (hence the album title I
guess), otherwise a too generic release to be really captivating.
Nostalgic of the old Scandinavian “grim and evil” scene must
acquire this without too much thinking, this is essential for them.
The others should abstain though.
Edouard Vergriete
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NEHËMAH
Requiem Tenebrae
(Oaken Shield / Adipocere)
55:08min
At a time when the great Norwegian Black Metal bands of the past
have either split up or rediscovered the virtues of Death Metal, it
is surprising to witness the rise of band from other countries who
maintain the classic tradition of the Black Arts once practiced in
the far North. NEHËMAH
from France are one of those bands, and like Thomas and I have
already stressed out in our reviews of their two previous offerings,
they have achieved the exploit to sound more Norwegian than the
Norwegian bands themselves. I don’t know about the first full
length of the band, but when I compare “Requiem Tenebrae” to
their sophomore release, I find a lot of progression and a gain of
maturity. This time, NEHËMAH got rid of some annoying elements, in
particular a tendency to be monotonous after a while, and come up
with high class music. The compositions on “Requiem Tenebrae”
are far more captivating than before, NEHËMAH have found the
perfect balance between fast and slow tempos within one hymn (the
only appropriate word to qualify their songs, so much they are full
of dark grandeur), so the result, despite its length (most of the
tracks are more than seven minutes long) never cross through the
borders of the boredom domain. NEHËMAH have digested their obvious
influences and found out their own style, so it should be
inappropriate to compare them with other bands any longer. Some
keyboards are used here, but never to the point to become prominent;
the guitars are mixed well upfront for the better I think. In that
regard the song ‘Taken Away By The Torn Black Shroud’ could sum
up the entire album, so much this track sound majestic and mystic
during its duration (more than eleven minutes long!) Lyric wise
“Requiem Tenebrae” stands away from cheap Satanism, the whole
lyrical concept deals instead with dark occultism linked with a vast
scope cosmogony. No wonder then that the album is dedicated to both
Aleister Crowley and H. P. Lovecraft.
Aside the aforementioned track, another standout one is
certainly ‘Conscience Of Evil’; this one sounds highly original
(I have even found a faint tribute to HELLHAMMER in it!) while
staying absolutely faithful to the classic Black Metal format.
“Requiem Tenebrae” is surely a highlight of this year 2004, and
NEHËMAH show them as one of the most important Black Metal horde of
today. Forget about the so-called “Black Metal” acts sold by
cynic labels, and invest your time and money into this one, you will
not regret it!
Edouard Vergriete
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NELDORETH
Neldoreth (MCD)
(self financed)
17:35min
What do you expect from a band that uses snow covered trees on the front cover
picture and a logo with fonts in the good old Bathory style?! A Scandinavian
Black Metal act, either from Sweden or Norway, right?! Well, not really in this
case. NELDORETH is indeed a Black Metal band (a duo to be more precise), but
they are hailing from sunny Italy. Hey, wait a minute - no need to ignore them
just because of that... I know that Italy hasn't really been a convincing place
for this type of music yet, but the four tracks on the self titled MCD by these
guys are really impressive. Totally uncompromising, raw, fast and highly
aggressive Black Metal - kinda like a mixture between old MARDUK meets LUNAR
AURORA (the latter minus the keyboards)! Not really original, but at least
intense and Metal to the bone! This ain't no wimp shit and you certainly won't
find any nice Gothic melodies within the approx. 18 minutes, which is more than
fine with me! It seems to me that NELDORETH really understood what this music is
all about, so you shouldn't hesitate to contact them for further info:
www.neldoreth.com
Frank Stöver
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NEPHASTH
Immortal Unholy Triumph
(Mighty Music / WWIII Music)
31:06min
This is insane how much Brazil produces one class act after another these days!
Maybe the Brazilians have settled Death Metal breeding farms somewhere in their
country, I don’t know… Take NEPHASTH for an example: this foursome from
Porto Alegre offer us an amazing album, utterly perfect. I was hooked at once by
one track included on a French sampler CD and decided to go for the full length
without wait. And what a gem “Immortal Unholy Triumph” revealed itself to my
ears! I am unable to find a single flaw in this. NEPHASTH deliver hellish Death
Metal the Brazilian way, with a touch of Polish mannerism; REBAELLIUN meets HATE
if you want. No wonder then the band is represented by a Polish management, that
a Polish artist was hired to draw the album cover, and that a Polish engineer
did the task of mastering. So one could say that with NEPHASTH you get the best
of both worlds, and the result left me speechless! The production of this album
is phenomenal, and compliments the ideal way the musical talent displayed by
each of the musicians. The two guitars buzz like malevolent insects, while you
can hear with painful clarity every single stroke on the cymbals, and I don’t
forget the hateful vocals of bassist /
vocalist Fabio Lentino which are
worth the price of the album, I can tell you! Each of the ten songs are equally
captivating, it is impossible to stop once you begin to hear it! This is for me
the best Death Metal album of 2001 so far. Buy, THIS IS PURE DEATH! Contact
NEPHASTH: nephasth@terra.com.br;
Mighty Music: http://www.mightymusic.dk
Edouard Vergriete
alternative
review:
If I wouldn't have been familiar with NEPHASTH yet, I would probably have
expected a Black Metal band here. Logo, coverart and the album's title -
everything completely leads you into a wrong direction. But even though this
Brazilian fourpiece may have a quite blasphemous attitude, they can easily be
added to the neverending list of brutal Death Metal hordes that are hailing from
South America these days. KRISIUN, REBAELLIUN, ABHORRENCE and now NEPHASTH are
basically all of the same kind, playing extremely fast and brutal Death Metal in
its purest form. If you should own a copy of the "Brazilian Assault"
compilation you will already have an idea what NEPHASTH is all about, as their "The
Merciless Face Of Evil" demo (which was also available as a MCD)
completely got featured on there. Nothing has really changed ever since - the
band still plays the same intense kind of Death Metal, but in comparison with
the aforementioned countrymen, still didn't manage to completely convince when
it comes to the production side of things. Things could definitely improved in
that direction. But all in all this is still a solid foundation for their future
activities, so all worshippers of brutal Death Metal should make sure to give
these guys their full attention from now on.
Frank
Stöver
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NEPHASTH
Conceived By Inhuman Blood
(Mighty Music)
43:19min
This is the type of band whose monicker I'd like to hear pronounced
by some German fellow, especially those of the Klaus Meine / Doro
Pesch type category... It will most certainly face them serious
tongue troubles, hahaha... But anyway – it's the music that
matters and NEPHASTH from Brazil fully know to convince in this
department nowadays! While their debut album "Immortal Unholy
Triumph" still lacked the necessary professional production to
back up their brutality, "Conceived By Inhuman Blood"
turned out highly impressive in every aspect now! Their progression
(also when it comes to the songwriting) is so immense that their
countrymates KRISIUN and ABHORRENCE (are those guys still around by
the way?) should definitely watch out for NEPHASTH! Highspeed brutal
Death Metal, with great, low grunted and intense vocals (no silly
frognoise here!), the necessary technical abilities and a crushing
overall sound make this effort a MUST HAVE for everyone into the
current Brazilian Death Metal invasion! Some hints of MORBID ANGEL (especially
in the rarely incorporated slower passages) shouldn't be a surprise
either, as none of those mentioned bands would sound the way they do
if Trey and his comrades wouldn't have changed the Death Metal world
around several years ago. So, all you worshippers of Death the
brutal way – make sure to invest some bucks in "Conceived By
Inhuman Blood" for it has become an(other) unoriginal, yet
totally great record! Label contact: www.mightymusic.dk
Frank Stöver
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NEPHENZY CHAOS ORDER
Pure Black Disease
(Baphomet Records)
47:08 min
This is
interesting stuff… I am quite delighted that this output made its
way to my desk and I had the pleasure of listening to it in awe.
NEPHENZY CHAOS ORDER (NCO) perform an extremely fast, partly
relatively technical and dark melange of Black and Death Metal. Well
– when it comes to such ventures into combining these extremes one
is tempted to think of exquisite acts such as DISSECTION, AETERNUS,
ANGEL CORPSE and the likes. Of course, it is kind of trendy
meanwhile to trod along this path of innovation, following acts like
ZYKLON, for instance, who have introduced modernism and progression
to the scene… but it’s necessary to prevent stagnation I should
think – and therefore I approve of such music. NCO musically
proceed like the aforementioned acts. They combine the brutality and
passion of Death Metal with the atmosphere and philosophy of Black
Metal, which is very intriguing. They sound very modern, the
production is razor-sharp and clear… guaranteeing utter power and
destruction. The speed with which NCO perform their skills is
incredible and very intense. The precision is superb and makes this
effort a real pleasure. Partly, the way the guitarists act on their
axes reminds me of the current SATYRICON releases. That is, open
chords are picked upwardly so that a mean and weird tune evolves. I
love this effect ‘cause it creates real evilness, which is cool.
Well --- what shall I say? This album convinced me due to its
aggression and evilness (which is essential to Metal I think… very
often this very trait is not achieved by extreme Metal bands anymore
‘cause they exclusively indulge in technique, speed, production,
deliberate primitiveness), due to its passion, its intensity, its
density. Of course, the lyrical conception of this output is
misanthropically oriented, which is a bit of a tedious and
perpetually regurgitated topic --- but it fits, and that is the
important point I assume. Music-wise “Pure Black Disease” is far
above average, brilliantly realised, dramatically thrust forth into
this stinking colony man constitutes and forms. Contact: www.oblivioncreations.com/~nco/,
nephenzy@hotmail.com
F. Cthulhu.
E.
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NERLICH
Innards (Demo)
(Nihilistic Holocaust)
17:56min
Listening to the "Innards" demo by Finnish NERLICH made me
believe I was dealing with average Death Metal mixing Thrash parts.
Some nice breaks and riffs to keep things flowing and bang away.
Something nice for a first demo and especially the production made
it sound so oldschool it could've been from 20 years ago. Like USA
style Death Metal before it became too over the top. All sounded
familiar in some way and waiting for names to pop in my head to give
you a clear hint (which could safe a lot of cryptic blabbing and
time) there's some SINISTER, some PESTILENCE some GORGUTS without
too strong similarities. In the four tracks 'Innards', 'Sinister
Deprivation', 'Hard Days Of Dismemberment' and 'Altered Form Of
Life' all is kept within bounds and never too fast, heavy or brutal.
The last two more or less reminded me a bit of CANNIBAL CORPSE on
"The Bleeding". It isn't bad, it's just average, cool and
done well. Convinced this would be their first demo, I checked and
found out NERLICH was actually formed in 2003 and this is their 7th
release as far as I know, before they split up last year. Not
familiar with former stuff I thought this could be considered a let
down for number 7 or a serious attempt by Miikka Merikallio (vocals,
guitars) and Viktor Gullichsen (drums) to grasp good old
atmospheres. Definitely less serious and pretty corny is the
untilted fifth track. Something that will surely be fun to live or
when you're a nerd but over here it doesn't really help taking these
guys serious. I couldn't make more of it than that they were
praising Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This demo is supposed to be
released as an EP on VBP Records and I'm sure they fit the rest of
the artist over there… It sells for 3 Euro (Europe) / 5 US$
(world) from Nihilistic Holocaust, c/o Gabriel Skowron, 9 rue de la
scarpe, 59552 Lambres Lez Douai, France, http://site.voila.fr/NIHILISTIC.
Band info: www.myspace.com/nerlichband
Michael
Tak
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NERVECELL
Human Chaos (MCD)
(self-financed)
26:44min
This one is a nice
underground gem! I am talking about "Human Chaos" which
is the debut MCD by Dubai (United Arab Emirates) based Death Metal
squadron NERVECELL. The band rose out of the sands of this wealthy
emirate in 1999 and has released also a two track demo in
2004 (both songs can be found again on the "Human Chaos"
EP). This year these warriors had even the chance to open for the
(annual) Dubai Rock Festival in 2005 where they supported well
known acts like SEPULTURA, SAXON or MACHINE HEAD on stage. If you
expect just crap here just because of the origination of the band
then you are totally wrong! The five tracks of their debut MCD
features excellent mid paced Death Metal with a slight Thrash
Metal influence. NERVECELL are more into the oldschool vein as
all of their songs have crushing double bass parts, precise
and aggressive riffing. Lead guitarist Rami delivers
also some excellent and brillant solos and leads where he also
incorporates oriental melodies. The vocals are rough and deep,
reminding me on some oldschool acts like SINISTER, DEICIDE
or MASSACRE (just to give you a rough description). The band
varies within their tracks between mid paced and slower parts only
in the title track 'Human Chaos' they have some faster sections. If
they add some more faster speed eruptions on their next
output then their material will even shred more. The production
suprisingly good and can compete without any doubt with
international standards. So all in all I recommend fans of
early 90s Death Metal to check this EP out. Support the real
underground! Don't hesitate to get in touch with the band at www.nervecell.tk.
Thrash Till Death!
Michael Oelschlegel
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NERVOCHAOS
Quarrel In Hell
(Ibex Moon Records)
48:09min
Crushing everything on
its path here we have the 3rd assault of one of the most
outrageous and dirty Death Metal bands the yet legendary Brazilian
extreme Metal scene has to offer under the name NERVOCHAOS. One thing you can
instantly realize by playing the CD is that this is just plain and
simple oldschool Death Metal, nothing more, nothing less. If
you dig those old releases like "Butchered At Birth" by CANNIBAL
CORPSE or "Harmony Corruption" by NAPALM DEATH then you'll be
on the right path to enjoy NERVOCHAOS. This album is filled with
special guests like: Alex Camargo (Krisiun), Barney
Greenway (Napalm Death), John McEntee
(Incantation), Emperor Magus
Caligula (Dark Funeral), Sanguine and
Wrath (Averse Sefira)
which is already a very interesting point in their favor. I would have preferred
the guitars to be a little bit more upfront and heavier but
other than that the production is just perfect to let us know
what this band is capable of achieving. This is bad-ass South American art, the filthiest, noisiest
and devastating, just like
the butcher recommended! Contact them at: www.ibexmoonrecords.com
Mario Cubero
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NETER
Nec Spe Nec Metu
(Grotesque Productions)
40:55min
Be not deceived. This album is not the prog affair it appears to me. In fact, the NETER album is quite the reverse, being an agile and young hybrid of ATHEIST and DEATH. As such, listeners should expect a roller coaster of standard
Death Metal drumming and guitar riffs that zig zag up, down, and all around. Naturally, those of us who weren't keen on the Jazz direction ATHEIST took may not appreciate the intricacies of the album, but no one can deny this band isn't skilled, nor can anyone reasonably say that there isn't something in here for every
Death Metal fan. This band would have fit right in with CYNIC,
ATHEIST and later day PESTILENCE in the early 90s, when the aforementioned bands began experimenting. Naturally, those same aforesaid are better than NETER, but NETER is young, and may yet craft a true classic of the fusion genre.
www.myspace.com/neterband,
www.grotesquemusic.com
Nat Shapiro
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NETHERBIRD
The Ghost Collector
(Pulverised Records)
62:43min
Last
week I’ve closed a review with the following words “nobody in
this world needs the 787th copy of a true Black Metal album…“
without the knowledge of the forthcoming doom in form of the debut
from this Swedish band. NETHERBIRD also have a logo created by
Christophe Szpajdel (yes the EMPEROR logo creator) and they are
playing symphonic Black Metal in the most common way, meaning they
are representing the 7787th CRADLE OF FILTH clone without any
substantial new ideas / impulses. Some choirs, some Dani vocals,
some spoken passages, some bombast parts and some female voices and
ready is the perfect Black Metal cake anno 2008. What a soulless
release and why the hell did Pulverised Records support this band
(maybe a big My Space fanbase is one reason)? This release is a
waste of resources so please keep away from “The Ghost
Collector”. www.netherbird.com,
www.pulverised.net
Matthias Auch
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NETHEREALM
The Occultist Omnibus
(Blackseed Productions)
63:07min
Even if the majority of the material presented here dates back from
2002, this first release of this one-man-project from Singapore is
issued only now, on a very obscure new Spanish label. Don’t think
of ABHORER or IMPIETY regarding NETHEREALM, because band master
Night is obviously fond of the Scandinavian school of Black Metal.
His stuff comes out pretty epic and evokes more the vast iced
landscapes of the North than the sunny Indian Ocean. The intro makes
me think of early BATHORY, but the real tracks (9 in total,
including an instrumental) marks a departure from that, I found some
similarities with the French act LORD in terms of songwriting.
Night’s voice is the highlight of this disc; he doesn’t rely
only on the usual high shrieks to impress but take care of the power
of his delivery also. Some cool guitar solos pop up on some
occasions, and it is obvious that Night has a solid Metal background
(‘Unspoken Passages’ is one proof of that, see this as a great
mix between Black Metal and brutal Heavy Metal). The music is
melodic but extremely raw sounding, I don’t speak of symphonic
extravaganza here, so devotee of pure brutality with a difference
will find something of interest with “The Occultist Omnibus”.
Most of the tracks are very long with one even exceeding the 10
minutes mark, but don’t worry though as the quality stays
permanent. This is a very underground release indeed, which can
appeal to fans of obscure stuff. Strongly recommended. www.blackseedprod.com
for info and some mp3.
Edouard Vergriete
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NEURAXIS
Truth Beyond...
(Morbid Records)
39:46min
NEURAXIS
from Montreal, Canada, are the missing link between (progressive) brutal US
Death and melodic Swedeath. I’ve never heard a melodic band sounding that
brutal and complex at the same time!
Recorded
at the studio of Pierre Rémillard (GORGUTS,
CRYPTOPSY), ‘Truth Beyond…’ offers an excellent sound and a modern cover
artwork by Mike Harrison (DYING FETUS, MISERY INDEX). It’s no wonder the
singer from CEPHALIC CARNAGE contributed guest vocals to this album. On the other hand,
NEURAXIS are less chaotic than CEPHALIC. That “medieval” acoustic part on
‘Impulse’ is so special and uncommon for this genre – yet it perfectly
fits! Definitely a band of their own. The European tour in September 2003
should increase NEURAXIS’ popularity immensely if they can transfer their
energy from CD to the stage as well. Watch out for these guys!
Ramon Claassen
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NEURAXIS
Trilateral Progression
(Earache Records)
35:17min
The latest record by Canadian
Techno-Deathers NEURAXIS arrived here together with the WATCHMAKER
promo. While the sound of the latter embraces primeval chaos and destruction, NEURAXIS seek to express exactly the contrary with their music. “Trilateral Progression” hails the limitless possibilities of the human mind and the constructive powers of intellect, wisdom and belief. This reflects in their complex and technical approach to what some might call “Math-Metal”. Although unlike many of the acts that nowadays get labelled with this ugly term, NEURAXIS don’t get lost in constant rhythm changes and mind-numbing instrumental wizardry. The production is remarkably clean, almost clinical and even in the fastest passages the music is fully controlled and precise.
The mixture of complex and melodic material is sometimes reminiscent of earlier ANATA but this only goes to show in which league NEURAXIS are playing.
So, is human existence but an endless struggle in a relentless slaughterhouse or a platform for spiritual enlightenment through the achievements of a conscious mind?
Listen to what two infamous Norwegian pharmacists had to say: “The universe knows nothing. You choose and refuse…”
www.earache.com.
You can order it
here .
Torsten Gründig
BACK
NEVERLIGHT HORIZON
Perfection In Murder's Art (MCD)
(Deadsun Records)
17:48min
NEVERLIGHT
HORIZON is a band from Belgium, that originally started out in 1999 as
BORN
OF FIRE (back then still with a slightly different musical direction),
but changed name and style rather quick, recorded five songs and
released them as their first demo "The Awakening" in 2000.
They draw their musical influences from acts suchs as Cannibal
Corpse, Deicide, Dying Fetus or
Slayer,
which results in a pretty raw Death / Thrash mixture. Last year they
completed another, second
demo ("Perfection In Murder's Art", once again with five
songs), which caught the attention of the French label Deadsun
Records who are about to (re-)release it as a MCD in March / April
this year.
The
featured material is always very aggressive, with a vocal delivery often kinda
close to intense Black Metal acts (yet not as shrieky), with a balanced mixture
of thrashy riffings and brutal Death Metal outbursts. Still pretty much lacking
in an own identity and a couple of more outstanding tunes, but considering the
rather young age of the band's members, this might come slowly but surely in the
near future. Band contact: NEVERLIGHT HORIZON, Route de Hamoir 63, 4500 Huy,
Belgium, neverlighthorizon@hotmail.com,
www.neverlighthorizon.be.tf
Frank Stöver
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NEVERLIGHT HORIZON
Dehumanized
(self financed)
33:14min
Ever since the release of their "Perfection In Murders
Art" MCD, Belgium's NEVERLIGHT HORIZON basically concentrated
on playing a whole bunch of live shows, which seemed to be a very
good idea as those experiences are pretty good reflected in their
more matured sounding songwriting now. In 2005 the band finally
returned to the studio and recorded their debut full length "Dehumanized",
which they unfortunately had to finance on their own again for
some strange reason... Well, at least one of the songs ('Spiritual
Slavery') made it onto volume 3 of the great "Face Your
Underground" sampler series from the dedicated guys at Death
Metal.be shortly after, so hopefully that'll help to get their name
out a bit more to people that weren't familiar with the band so far.
"Dehumanized" features 8 tracks as well as a short intro
and easily lives up to the high standards that are currently being
set in Belgium's impressive Death Metal underground. Just like all
the other upcoming bands from overthere that we recently were able
to introduce to you, also NEVERLIGHT HORIZON have come up with an
overall very high quality in terms of their musical skills as well
as the production and packing of "Dehumanized". To label
their material as "typical brutal US style Death Metal"
may sound a little negative at first, but is actually meant in a
very positive way here. The band has dropped all unnecessary outside
influences and simply delivers a relentless mixture of very well
executed and totally devastating Death Metal somewhere in between
the intensity of MALEVOLENT CREATION and brutality of DEICIDE and
despite the usual lack of originality totally convinces in that from
start to finish. Everything just fits together perfectly and on top
of that you're even getting one of the most brilliant looking (fold-out)
coverarts I've ever seen for a self-financed release. So, instead of
wasting more of your time, I'll advice you to contact the band for
ordering information at neverlighthorizon@hotmail.com.
Their website can be found at this location www.nlh.be.tf.
Horns up and cheers once more to Belgium!
Frank Stöver
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NEVERMORE
This Godless Endeavor
(Century Media)
57:16min
By far musically, this record from NEVERMORE, that is untimely in review here as it was originally released in 2005 (however as I just got the promo for it, so it must be still “new” in the eyes of
publicity at Century Media eh?) is exactly what I have been waiting on NEVERMORE to record and release since I heard Warrel Dane had left SANCTUARY to form his own band back in ’92! Then as history shall attest, three years later they get picked up and release their self-titled debut – the unintentional (?) sequel to “Into The Mirror Black“. That said, exactly ten years after this sad fact NEVERMORE finally get their shit together and get around to writing some of the most memorable, most kick–fucking-ass guitar driven, fuel injected Power Metal / Thrash that you’re ever going to hear. Quite obviously the best NEVERMORE album by far and how could it not be? Recorded by Andy Sneap (SABBAT – U.K.) at Backstage in Derbyshire - no pressure there in having such a virtuoso like Sneap in the studio, eh? Not to mention either a guest solo appearance by the infamous hired-gun, none other than James “Fuck you…Pay me!“ Murphy. So it is then that this album, that clocks in at just under an hour, takes the listener on a raucous adventure in prolific Thrash riffs and inspired
lead-work so eloquent, so tasteful, that if it doesn’t make you want to pick up your axe and get to business I don’t know what will! Jeff Loomis is the dude. I have heard plenty of tasteful players in my time, yet he consistently just nails it for this style of Metal and congrats to him on some of best work to date. Without him…NEVERMORE might as well call it. Now for the hammer…What kills this album, in my opinion anyhow, and I never thought I’d say this as I actually like SANCTUARY quite a
bit... is the fact that NEVERMORE needs a new vocalist. There I said it. Warrel Dane just doesn’t have it in him to lead these guys into greatness or to the next level - to where the rest of NEVERMORE clearly – musically – are aiming their guns toward. And too with Warrel’s ongoing affair of sorrow-filled monotonous drawling that crept up on “Into The Mirror Black” that was dated and out of place back then in 1990 as it was in 1995 as it is now in 2005 + three. For the world, I cannot think of why these guys keep him in this act?! Aside from the fact it is his band, and that a barrister’s contractual agreement I am positive is what keeps his mic services intact. In closing - I would like to suggest a plausible solution to this dilemma with Warrel, and mayhaps this may occur in time. I would like to see the rest of the band buy him out of his contract, keep the name and licensing and the signing to
Century Media of course, and look up a gentlemen by the name of Rob Rock at
www.robrock.com
and no, not the “Bob Rock” who fucked up METALLICA. Rob Rock the singer! Contact:
www.nevermore.tv
or www.jeffloomis.com
or www.centurymedia.com
Wes Rhodes
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THE NEW PLAGUE
Shackled And Enslaved
(Cursed Productions)
67:31min
Does anyone remember the band PAX MORTIS from California? When PAX MORTIS fell into the grave the mid-nineties the drummer of that technical
Death Metal band extricated his corpse from that strewn pile of bones, clawing his way to higher ground, and thus with the help of a few of his friends put together another sacrifice to all that is heavy and brutally riffed. THE NEW PLAGUE is far and away better than anything PAX MORTIS could of written or ever contributed to the Californian scene. Far more savage, far more direct in their MORBID ANGEL / CANNIBAL CORPSE–esque writing and delivery, where PAX MORTIS excelled in originality, the level of professionalism displayed on this disc here easily crushes those benchmarks made and in truth for fans of PAX, THE NEW PLAGUE easily makes up for any discrepancies between these two bands and then sum! Quality writing, and with a level of professionalism not readily seen in acts from this area, not to say that 12 years of this band's existence honing their skills to the limit have anything to with this, they most certainly do! Featuring an album's worth of material plus 9 bonus tracks ranging from rough mix, demo and EP tracks to two
live broadcast radio extras from 2006. Contact:
www.cursedproductions.com
or P.O. Box 302, Elkhart, IN 46515-0302 USA or THE NEW PLAGUE at
lordpazuzu@hotmail.com
Wes Rhodes
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NEXUS 6
A Strange Habitat
(Xtreem Music)
33:52min
In 1998 the solitary project of THE HERETIC's bassist, Nexusseis
(I'm speaking both about the person and the band), saw the light, and was quite far
from what we could here on its main band, as it was a pure futuristic Ambient album, inspired by the cult movie "Blade
Runner" (if I'm not that wrong, as I never listened to it), from where he took his name too. And no more news arrived from this project until
nowadays, when this new album is released, now under the NEXUS 6
name ("seis" is 6 in Spanish), and with a surprising change in their style. Ambient was left behind, even though
the futuristic background remained, for "A Strange Habitat", which could be qualified as a mix between progressive stuff, technical Black Metal and a lot more
influences, which bring to mind EMPEROR, ARCTURUS or COVENANT on the "Nexus Polaris" album, even some polish Death
Metal (for the most extreme parts with blastbeats) and even some
Prog Rock / Metal touches (especially for some guitar riffs which are not that far from
DREAM THEATER or SYMPHONY X). The songs don't give you that much time to
get used to one riff, as the breaks and tempo changes are continuous, and the most surprising is they link
really well. They are not too cheesy, even if it's hard to get them all at the first listen, as it could happen with EMPEROR's last
album (even if this is not so twisted) and the paranoias of ARCTURUS. In fact, I'd like to be able to
compare this with what THE HERETIC are doing nowadays, but I don't follow them since "Fallen From
Heaven". Anyways, the influences seem to be quite similar, so I imagine they have some common
points, at least on the vocal side, as Rhülk is doing them here too. They don't forget some
Industrial / Ambient vibes too, being 'Phantom City' (my favourite track) a bit similar
to what THE KOVENANT did on "Animatronic", with some marcial riffs and really original guitar leads. I think I don't need to make more
comments about what you can find in the Spanish scene than all I've done
in a lot of reviews. If this came from another country, I'm sure they would be hailed, and I
say that without being the biggest fan of this style, but when you have quality
in front of you, you feel it.
www.xtreemmusic.com
Jeroni Sancho
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NIFELHEIM
Servants Of Darkness
(Black Sun Records)
34:43min
Hooray, the NIFELHEIM twins are back from madhouse to attack. "Servants
Of Darkness" is already the third infernal strike of these
sickos, which are infamous for being the biggest IRON MAIDEN die
hard collectors, spikes'n'leather motor mechanics at Volvo as well
as having a couple of quite deviant and perverse sexual predilections.
Here you get nine tracks of raw, simple and primitive Black / Thrash
assaults without any musical refinements, so Tyrant, Hellbutcher
and the new battery master Devastator let the scene be in ruins.
Those antisocial Swedes could easily open a scrap yard with their
spikes and cartridge belt overkill. Okay, joking apart, "Servants
Of Darkness" is a truly entertaining record and a new age edition
of VENOM. The vinyl release comes with an additional patch, which
is of course pure cult!
Schenk
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NIFELHEIM
Unholy Death (7")
(Primitive Art Records)
In order
to celebrate "A Decade Of Evil Blasphemy", NIFELHEIM released
this 7" with 2 songs: the title track is taken from the "Unholy
Death" demo, whereas this particular version of "The Devastation"
is a previously unreleased one! Proudly NIFELHEIM point out: "worst
possible sound quality" guaranteed" and they're right!
Consequently, this 7" is for NIFELHEIM fans and bad taste maniacs
only, so I guess you already ordered this one, right? ylva@primitiveartrecords.com
Ramon Claassen
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NIFELHEIM
13 Years LP
(I Hate Records)
Whoever digs the Swedish unholy trinity of violent Black / Thrash /
Heavy Metal should get this piece of vinyl as soon as possible!!! To
celebrate the infernal existence of the Gothenburg warriors of Metal
exclusive previously unreleased demo recordings and live tracks were
unearthed and since they are of really good sound quality “13
Years” is not only a visual delicacy but also a “delight” for
your ears. The A side of this clear vinyl contains remastered demo
songs and rare cover versions of MOTÖRHEAD’s ‘Mean Machine’,
BATHORY’s ‘Reaper’ and TREBLINKA’s ‘Earwigs In Your Veins’
recorded between 1992 and 1999. The B Side features some well
sounding live tracks recorded in 2001 and among them a cool KOROZIA
METALLA Cover (‘Spid’) can be discovered. Especially soundwise I
was positively surprised since a lot of those “rarities”
collections of so-called cult acts are often nothing but hard to
endure noise infernos. Fortunately this is not the case with “13
Years” and in addition to the entertaining, hellish aggressive and
poser-ripping-raw music you get a nice sleeve with a rather ugly
cover, but numerous great photos of NIFELHEIM. This is a must have
for fans and, to be honest, although I was never much of a
NIFELHEIM-worshipper I think I’m starting to like this band now,
so people unfamiliar with the band might have fun with this release,
too. The LP is limited to 1000 copies, costs 14 Euro / 18$ / 120 SEK
and you can have a look at the cover and tracklist here: www.ihaterecords.cjb.net.
NIFELHEIM can be found here http://www.geocities.com/fulo_ragatasson/
Stefan Franke
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NIFELHEIM /
VULCANO
Thunder Metal (Split 7")
(I Hate Records)
15:51min
What we have here is
an absolutely killer little split 7inch EP for the vinyl freaks
out there. If you
worship the oldschool sound then chances are you have heard of
these bands. NIFELHEIM
hails from Sweden
and play Black Metal, but they sure as hell have nothing in common
with their country mates like MARDUK or DARK FUNERAL.
To me these guys would fit nicely in the first wave of Black
Metal with bands like Venom
and Bathory. These guys really have the atmosphere thing down.
They sound very evil and got that great charm that is
missing from so many bands these days.
They have… personality. I really got into both of their songs on this split.
Now while I was aware of NIFELHEIM from their split “A
Tribute To Slayer Mag” on my personal favorite label, Nuclear War
Now Productions, I am ashamed to say that this was my first
experience with VULCANO. Now
I liked the NIFELHEIM side but the VULCANO tracks just completely
kicked my ass. These
two little gems are some of the best music I have heard in a
while. They are long
time veterans from Brazil and like their country mates SARCOFAGO they play blistering
Death Thrash with great songwriting and a perfect oldschool vibe.
The production for both bands is just perfect.
And when I say perfect it pertains to how it fits the music
not the actual quality of the mixing and mastering etc…
If you want polished Metal look elsewhere.
Chances are this will pass many people by as vinyl is not
as common as it once was, which is a shame because more young Metalheads should be exposed to music like this.
By the way this thing sold out from the label like as soon
as they released it. So
if you see one you better pick it up or the next time you see it
will be on ebay for way too much money. And for my fellow vinyl nerds this was limited to 1000
copies with the first 100 being the coveted "Die Hard" edition.
If you managed to get one of these I hate you.
Unfortunately I don’t know where to tell you to get this
little gem but you can find more info about it here:
www.ihate.se.
I repeat if you see
this, you better pick it up because it won’t be around for long.
Recommended.
Michael D. Kersten
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NIFELHEIM
/ VULCANO
Thunder Metal (Split CD)
(I Hate Records)
18:17min
On this time and age, are split recordings really a necessity or
just another tool for the Metal masses to know more than one band in
a recording? Hell knows…I mean, it is the dreaded internet
era…you just create a myspace thing and then everyone can know of
you. Or, on the other hand, there are many compilations where you
can get a handful of bands to know them. But splits are rare,
although not dead nowadays. It is a way to know about two bands
(sometimes even up to four) and to listen to more than one song. You
see, sometimes one song it is just not enough to create an overall
view of what a band does really sounds like. So, here we have a
split that has been released back in 2006. It was available on
limited 7” pic disc, normal 7” black vinyl and now, in unholy CD
format, with a bonus song. The bands, I suppose need no
introduction, but oh well, I am going to do so, thinking in maybe a
couple of Voices reader that were probably in jail (without contact
to the outside world) or catatonic state for the last few
years…this starts with the Swedes of NIFELHEIM which are the
nowadays master of Black / Thrash attack, and a mighty fine one if
you want. Sawing them live last year confirmed they are on for
greater things, well, as great as their unholy style of Black Metal
can permit. Their participation in this split, comes in the form of
two songs, one of them can be found in their latest offering
“Envoy Of Lucifer” although the recording found here is from a
different session and sounds a bit rawer. NIFELHEIM brings forth the
primordial essence of bands like BATHORY, MERCILESS and SARCOFAGO
with a very distinct touch of IRON MAIDEN. It must be known by now
that the evil twins, founders of the band, are the probably the
world’s number one IRON MAIDEN fans, so it was inevitable to find
some touches in their music. Still, the bestiality is there and is
not to be gone ever. The bonus song for the CD version comes in
actually a cover song of DAMNATION (the band of their nowadays
drummer) where they have the late Jon Nodveit from DISSECTION
playing guitars. Although there is a noticeable difference being it
the studio sessions and the way the song is performed, the style is
quite similar, but to be brutally honest I just feel like this was
done in a rushed way, and that maybe a new real NIFELHEIM song could
have been added. Oh, well. Now we also have VULCANO as a complement
of this mighty fine CD. Oh, yeah, actually NIFELHEIM covered VULCANO
in another release (I think it was one of the single series
“Headbangers Against Disco” 7” EP) so, in fact, the real
highlight of this split must be the old Brazilian horde. Also there
are 2 song presented here, done in their style that has been intact
since their very beginning, but also showing the mastery that comes
with age. Their style ranges in that of early SLAYER with some
touches of VENOM but with a very characteristic sound that only
South American bands can do…macabre Metal of Death. Am I the only
one that finds a good similarity between VULCANO and MORTUARY DRAPE?
Both Latins, although one from Europe the other from South America,
both evil…and yes, both with long time in the Metal scene. To be
honest, and to be fair, this re-issue on CD should also have a bonus
song from VULCANO. Although both bands are excellent, in my ears
VULCANO comes out as the best one, and also has a better vocalist. 'Suffered
Souls' have some mighty riffing that EXODUS would be proud of doing
at least something near to this not compared to the crap they
release these days…So, in the end, if you were not able to get a
hold of the vinyl versions, the CD is still a good one. I demand to
have another VULCANO song…oh, well, I Hate Records will be
re-releasing some of VULCANO's albums (the last one “The Black Book”
is a must!) and also Regain will be re-issuing some of the early
NIFELHEIM albums so keep an eye on those. This is a collector’s
item, but also worthy in any collection of a self respected fan of
extreme Metal. www.ihate.se
Julian Nuñez
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NIFELHEIM / SADISTIK EXEKUTION
Tribute To Slayer Magazine (Split 7")
(Nuclear War Now! Productions)
12:24min
I really don't know what took so long to do this review since this
7inch has been released for some time now and I have the suspicion
that it's already sold out. Bad timing I guess, but for the sake of
this cult release let's go to the juicy part: this split 7inch is
supposed to be a sort of tribute to the legendary SLAYER zine.
Actually it includes one brand new track from NIFELHEIM called 'Gates
Of Damnation' plus two SADISTIK EXEKUTION tracks ('Proxima
Centauri' and 'Demon
With Wings') that have already been part
of their "Demon With Wings"
EP released back in 1996. The brand new track (with playing time of
around 4 minutes) is really cool, in the typical NIFELHEIM style
that will surely please fans of the band. As far as SADISTIK
EXEKUTION is concerned, I admit that I never was a big fan of the
band, although I respect their commitment and dedication in what
they are doing. I guess their presence in this "tribute"
release was more than necessary since they have been very closely
affiliated with Metalion for ages. Still, the fact that they haven't
contributed with any new song reduces some
"value-for-money" points from this release (while the
cool gatefold cover on the other hand increases it again - Frank).
But I guess die-hards already have it in their position and don't
give a damn about what I am talking about. Just for your information
there has also been a die-hard version of the 7inch that includes a
nice, red SLAYER-logo patch. www.nwnprod.com,
www.nifelheim.co.nr,
http://fade.to/sadx.
Manolis A.
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NIFELHEIM
Envoy Of Lucifer
(Regain Records)
44:05min
Twelve years have passed by now since the Swedish sickos of
NIFELHEIM released their classic self-titled debut album via
Necropolis Records. Twelve years in which they first and foremost
delivered a bunch of vinyls (a compilation album and split EPs), but
only four full length albums, of which "Envoy Of Lucifer"
is their newest offering now. I suppose this album, their debut on
Regain Records, is probably closest to the musical vision that
NIFELHEIM already had ever since the origin of the band, but failed
to achieve due to limited musical abilities back then. If you know
how much Tyrant and Hellbutcher have worshipped IRON MAIDEN for many
many years now, it's no wonder that these influences would sooner or
later find their way into their own material. And on "Envoy Of
Lucifer" it definitely shines through more obvious than before.
But don't get me wrong here: NIFELHEIM is still 100% true to their
own roots, which means the material is still raw as fuck and totally
dispises any modern influences. It's just that they have adopted the
wellknown twin guitar attacks of early MAIDEN (debut album) stronger
than ever and perfectly incorporated them into tracks like 'Open The
Gates Of Damnation' (THE
definite hymn of this record, known from the NIFELHEIM / SADISTIK
EXEKUTION split EP already!), 'Storm Of The Reaper' , 'Raging
Flames' or 'No More Lies'. Combined with their own unique brand of
harsh thrashing Metal (somewhere in between classic VENOM and early
KREATOR with traces of old Black Metal) it results in the most
varied NIFELHEIM release to date. Except for 'Claws Of Death' (which
I don't get into at all) all of the ten tracks turned out highly
impressive and might even gain them a bigger following after all,
yet maintaining their loyal fanbase. So, "Envoy Of
Lucifer" perfectly proves that there's in fact way more to
NIFELHEIM than just spikes, leather and booze. Great one! www.regainrecords.com
Frank Stöver
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NIFLHEIM
Neurasthénie
(Sepulchral Productions)
50:14min
Despite working for nearly twelve years in the so-called health care system, the term “neurasthenia” was unknown to me. Generally the term describes a form
of neurosis, which comes along with depressive moods like melancholy, dejection and intense mourning. Well, it was a good decision by NIFLHEIM to give their debut a name like this, because it is suitable for an album like this here. “Neurasthénie“ is
an unholy bastard, mixing styles like Doom and Black Metal. Very slow, with sparingly songwriting, where sometimes just one instrument or just a few tones are presented. From time to time a blaze of light in form a fine melody is flickering, but very soon it is again the desperate, depressive music, an effect that supports the melancholic atmosphere on this album. What I personally do not like are the vocals. They are just too much distorted, a little less noisy and they would be more fitting. But maybe the band is trying to underline the pain the vocalist is going through, so they decided to perform the vocals this way. Be it as it may, I am sure they have made there mind clear about this, because generally the album is very sophisticated, regarding aspect like
songwriting and musicianship. It is well composed and if you are willing to getting involved, i.e. not listening this release in clear sunlight and ironing your shirts while listening, you are lost in a sea of nothingness. No kind of easy-listening here, but if you dare to take a step inside the world of NIFLHEIM, you will be rewarded with a subtle, fine album.
www.myspace.com/niflheim5
Mirco Szymyslik
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NIGHTMARE
Insurrection
(AFM Records)
54:16min
Power Metal is for sure not my preferred cup of beer but if there is
one band which has impressed me over the years with their great
releases it’s for sure the French band NIGHTMARE. The band from
Grenoble was founded in 1979 (!!!) and 30 years are - even if the
band split up for over a decade (1987 –1999) - a remarkable amount
of time within the extreme Metal scene. The former 2 albums via
Regain Records (“The Dominion Gate” and “Genetic Disorder“)
offered a solid dose of aggressive Power Metal mixed with pure Heavy
Metal - plus a hell of fantastic melodies. During the last two years
the band signed a new contract with the German based AFM Records but
NIGHTMARE are still a restless bunch of Metalheads who perfectly
know how to write great songs even if the aggression level has been
slightly reduced. The presented 10 songs are again combining the
best of both worlds, meaning the Power Metal aggression and the
traditional Heavy Metal pathos. I just wished that the album could
offer more hymns like the fantastic opener 'Eternal Winter' but this
is not really a point of critism. Hopefully their new label can help
NIGHTMARE to reach a wider audience because quality wise the band
can compete with a lot of the famous bands of this genre. www.myspace.com/nightmareofficial,
www.afm-records.com.
On sale here.
Matthias Auch
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NIGHTSHADE
Wielding The Scythe
(Scarlet Records)
38:50min
Bands
like this simply bore me to death! NIGHTSIDE is another Swedish
newcomer act dedicated to the Melodic Death Metal style that countless
others have already been doing for many many years now. Will it
never stop? Will labels never notice that it's been getting too
much?! I really wonder how many copies they are still able to sell
of those kinda products... Of course also NIGHTSIDE are skilled
and pretty young musicians that come up with a whole lot of nice
melodylines and a good production, but what they are most importantly
completely lacking in is an own identity! All they do is copy an
established formular without adding too much of their own ideas
to it. If you would compile me a compilation of all these bands,
I would probably never ever manage to separate them all from each
other. They all combine the same aggressive vocal style with melodic
guitarwork… I mean, how many DARK TRANQUILLITY's and IN FLAMES'
do we actually need? Even the original bands started to repeat themselves
or changed direction in the meantime. Not even the coverart is unique
(Joe Petagno again…). Wake me when it's over, zzzzzZZZZZZ…
Frank Stöver
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NIGHTSHADERS
Rougayah’s Revenge (MCD)
(self-financed)
21:27min
This is the second release of this Malaysian band, as the extension
to their debut demo entitled “Dead Rougayah”. I’m still
curious why these guys are so obvious with Rougayah (for
information, Rougayah is a traditional name for a Malayan women –
and it sound totally oldschool!). They got four tracks of melodic Death
/ Thrashing Metal. The intro of the first song 'With Night We Rise'
really reminds me of SLAYER, again in the second song 'Heavenly Sin',
the chorus is totally Thrash!! But in the third song, 'After Us',
the solo even reminds me of IRON MAIDEN or maybe I could also say, Children
Of Bodom! On the melodic side, these guys also take the
inspiration from bands like At
The Gates and Amorphis.
Nightshaders isn’t
totally a Thrash Metal band but if you think The
Haunted is Thrash Metal, so this is also thrash! www.myspace.com/nightshaders
Amin
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NIGHTSIDE
Shadows Weaver
(self financed)
35:51min
First of
all: thanks to NIGHTSIDE for not "polluting" the air with
even more Italian True Metal but instead putting out an interesting
mixture of Swedeath in the Gothenburg vein and an even more melodic,
sometimes even quiet touch! You can spot elements from Thrash and
True Metal on here as well but this CD lives from dynamics very
much and therefore doesn't need speed and mayhem all the time. Okay,
nothing wrong with that of course, but it makes NIGHTSIDE differ
from other bands quite a bit! Among all those faceless (not only!)
Italien bands, NIGHTSIDE are definitely looking for an identity
of their own and they're already quite good with that! Absolutely
worth checking out!
tompa@virgilio.it
Ramon Claassen
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