NECROTUM are a Death Metal band based out of Romania, founded in 2019 with the “My Resurrection” demo tape. Since then, NECROTUM have released a battery of singles, demos, EPs, and full-lengths, a total of fifteen various releases, now spearedheaded by their newest full-length “Defleshed Exhumation”, released in January of 2024 through Memento Mori. NECROTUM play a style of Death Metal that straddles the line of new school and old school. This is clean-cut brutal Death Metal without heavy melodicism ingrained in the compositions, and clean enough that it’s not a down-tuned distorted mess. Fans of bands such as SEVERE TORTURE, INCANTATION and SUFFOCATION will find something of interest here. The vocal approach is reminiscent of a clearer, cleaner MORTICIAN or FLUIDS. Despite being released in 2024, “Defleshed Exhumation” could have easily fit in the early 2000s Death Metal scene. This is a very “to the point” record, with eight original songs and a DEMIGOD cover, spanning roughly thirty-six minutes in total, with none of the songs breaking the five-minute mark. “Defleshed Exhumation” hits hard and fast and leaves many modern Death Metal bands in the dust. The compositional decisions, the riffing, the drumming and the vocals meld together to create something that isn’t overly technical or overly melodic. Many bands who become too technical are crafting songs with no soul or direction and bands that are overly groove oriented or melodic run the risk of watering down the signature brutality of Death Metal. NECROTUM strike a full, comprehensive balance between technicality and brutality, melodicism and dissonance, to a point where “Defleshed Exhumation” is an attention-worthy effort that demands a focused listen. There are no slow songs on “Defleshed Exhumation”, nor are there intros or outros. These are all direct hard-hitting tracks. Beginning with ‘Warped In Entrails’, the listener is greeted with a staggering build-up that resolves into a pummeling fury early on followed by crushing alternating segments of speed and half-time rhythmic slamming. ‘Noxious Breeze’ is a groove-heavy track packed full of fills, riffs and transitions. ‘Incomprehensible Forms’ is a storming fury of high-speed drumming, abyssal leads and slamming riffs. ‘Dissolved In The Flesh Pits’ opens with a distorted bass line that resolves into chunky palm-muted brutality. ‘Mouldered Orb’ features slick guitar work rich in harmonization that alternates into doubling the rhythm segment, creating a working contrast and a conflict within the song that resolves into chugging chaos. ‘Shattered Flow Of Time’ is a technical and surgically precise number with arguably some of the best writing on the entire album. ‘Psychotic Apparitions’ is a drumming storm, with wildly fast double-bass. With the last original song on “Defleshed Exhumation” being ‘Ghastly Metropolis’, the band summarizes their performance with groove and heavy harmonization. Closing the record is a cover of DEMIGOD’s ‘As I Behold I Despise’. The production on “Defleshed Exhumation” definitely favors the guitars, with the drums being fairly low in the mix, with an almost mechanized tonal quality to them. The guitars are tempered and settled in the mid-range nestled alongside the vocals. The bass is a little thin sounding and heavily distorted. There is not an overwhelming amount of highs or lows anywhere in the mix, with tonal quality comparable to early 2000s Death Metal. “Defleshed Exhumation” is a solid, fast, heavy record that grows with every new listen. It’s short enough and straight to the point that multiple listens are a genuinely enjoyable experience. If you’re into brutal Death Metal with rhythmic fury and constantly evolving riff structures, this is a record you need to spin. For more information on NECROTUM see www.facebook.com/necrotumdm and for more information on Memento Mori, check out www.facebook.com/memento.mori.label.