NEPHREN-KA
La Grande Guerre De L'Épicé
(Dolorem Records)
41:51min

“Nephren-Ka, also known as the Black Pharaoh, is a character from the Cthulhu mythos who started the worship of Nyarlathotep, a malign entity also known as the Crawling Chaos.” On to the Metal plane, NEPHREN-KA is a French brutal Death Metal band formed back in 2006 and this is their second album. Their brand of Death Metal is firmly rooted in the old SUFFOCATION, HATE ETERNAL and DEICIDE sounds whereas I can also sense a bit of MORBID ANGEL, NILE and early GORGUTS. For a band already 11 years playing it is no surprise that this has a very good musical execution and production values. Although by the name of the band one would expect Egyptian based themes, it is actually the Sci-fi works of Farnkk Herbert (creator of “Dune”) what actually influences them. The great cover art has a nod to old school Death Metal art and it fits quite well in their lyrical theme. I can sense maybe a bit of a concept album done here, something that is always quite interesting. At times I feel the level of brutality and intensity goes to places making things sounding a bit alike. And although the production is in no way bad, it probably needs more shine to gave each song more identity. The riffs are surely there, and that is what sometimes makes one band different from others. There is a good dose of technical sound here, but it is done with the right amount and fits very good with the more straight forward parts. I also appreciate the way the vocalist (in a more limited dimension) is able to pull it through with some slight variations and not sounding just like a low end growl. Fans of brutal Death Metal with a slight technical touch, will definitely need to check them out, as in all that blur of chaos there are some killer riffs. This album contains two covers, one of PANZERCHRIST and the other a brutal version of CANDLEMASS’ ‘Mirror, Mirror’. More info at: www.facebook.com/pages/nephren-ka/134665519892369, label contact: www.doloremrecords.com

Julián “Watch And Learn” Núñez

Julián “Watch And Learn” Núñez

Related reviews / interviews:
NEPHREN-KA - The Fall Of Omnius (Luxi Lahtinen)

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