What’s with this album’s track order? Traditionally, a Metal band will place one fast track, then one slower track, then one fast, etc; to provide crests and troughs in an album’s tragectory. NECROCURSE must have neglected that part of the creative process, because "Grip Of The Dead", at least in my humble opinion, is front-loaded with B-sides. The first few songs are slower, more standard Swedeath – not bad, but not strangulating either. "Grip Of The Dead" is stuck in 3rd gear until ‘Ripping Darkness (The Destroyer)’, or song 5. Then, the last 5 or 6 songs on the album completely smoke; being that NECROCURSE are at their abolute most deadly when playing fast Death Thrash. Also notable is that NECROCURSE features somewhat of a ‘celebrity’ line-up. Nick from SACRAMENTUM / DEATHWITCH / RUNEMAGICK is on drums, with a solid but fairly restrained style. Thankfully, the drums aren’t triggered to hell… Nick’s RUNEMAGICK cohort Johan is on bass, some other dudes I haven’t heard of on guitars (providing the Sunlight guitar sound), and none other that Hellbutcher from NIFELHEIM on vocals. Hellbutcher proves why he is still one of the most distinctive and extreme voices in Metal, with a scathing and over-the-top performance. The guy’s singing almost becomes too much to bear (a good thing!). And as hinted above, Hellbutcher’s hateful vocals propel aggression to dangerous levels when NECROCURSE are at their fastest tempos. My advice to the reader, definitely seek out this album, only make your own track running order to break up the clogged first half. www.necrocurse.com, www.pulverised.net