Italy’s NECRODEATH have always been a good address for raging old school Thrash Metal, but qualitywise they became even stronger when they finally returned to the scene in 1998. Their comeback album “Mater Of All Evil” was one of the finest releases in 1999. The much improved musical skills and songwriting abilities easily managed to top their old classics “Into The Macabre” and “Fragments Of Insanity”! With the release of their brandnew offering “Black As Pitch” the band consequently follows that tradition and luckily continues on where they left off with their predecessor. This is not the typical modern, so-called NU Metal crap – this is Thrash as its best, which should once again easily satisfy the needs of all disappointed SLAYER maniacs who are simply disgusted by “Diabolus In Musica” and “God Hates Us All”! There’s a lot of the typical old Hannemann / King riffing and songstructures involved in the songwriting, with the only difference being that NECRODEATH is even more intense than SLAYER probably ever were! This is kinda like a mixture of “Reign In Blood” / “South Of Heaven” with the aggression of KREATOR’s “Pleasure To Kill” and a vocal delivery kinda close to raw Black Metal acts. The vocals are maybe the only aspect that could be improved a little in the future, as they lack a bit in variety and emotional expression. They are just raw and screamy. Basically there’s nothing wrong with that, but a vocal style like this is not necessarily what the material demands in order to crush everything in sight. Don’t get me wrong – in spite of my little criticism, it’s still killer stuff on here, so you shouldn’t hesitate for a second to give Italy’s finest your total support!