NECROPHOBIC - SWEDEN

NECROPHOBIC - NOCTURNAL SILENCE - BLACK MARK  
The album delivers riff after beefy metal riff, defining the death metal sound of Nocturnal Silence. Want more detail?
The album, with its paradoxical title, begins by creating a grim and ominous atmosphere, making it clear early on that it will be a strong release. When the first proper song blasts off, it’s no surprise how vicious it sounds. Moreover, it’s worth pointing out that the Swedish band’s death metal neither sounds like Swedeath nor Gothenburg metal. It is no mystery, of course, that the band, and its compositions, are roughly contemporary to all the bands in the aforementioned categories and did not require influence from those scenes. The monicker references Slayer and the title track from Reign In Blood, and the cover artwork shows Deicide’s influence, but Necrophobic plays their own game. The album was released a year after Deicide's Legion, which features comparable cover artwork. Imbued with lyrics and atmosphere of darkness and evil, which is why the black metal description rightly befits the band, the combination of gruff vocals from hell, tasteful and simple leads and various tempos keep the listener engaged. "Live your life to the inverted cross/ The lord of hell is the one to sanctify/ Turn your back to Christianity/ Believers of God shall die." Nocturnal Silence has these delicious breaks that just pile on to the dynamism and excitement.
Awakening.... Is a good title for the first song of a first record. For the first of several times, the track ends with a whisper. One of the stronger songs Unholy Prophecies also has a simple solo that tells a story. The title track has a subtle gothic atmosphere. Unholy Prophecies includes a sample from the Whispers movie, "I am a Satanist… " which fits perfectly. The Ancient Gate quotes the Bible and, given its subject matter, a Near Eastern melody and a passing effect on the vocals make sense. The short interlude Shadows Of The Moon reprises the vocal effect. Rarely has any band combined so much atmosphere with so much brutal in-your-face blasphemy, and yet remained astoundingly melodic. Sacrificial Rites’ is a speed fest that transitions into a melodic and enticing guitar segment. More tapping guitar medleys, characteristic of Necrophobic, appear throughout. Singer Anders Strokirk often sounds as if he is barking hellish commands at the listener and, indeed, he might be. Where Sinners Burn fades out like a pop song probably because it is the last track; either way, it is the wrong thing to do for a metal band.
As big as Necrophobic is, the band remains a top-notch servant of extreme metal and one that went down its own path instead of copying any other act or sound. I'd put Centiex and Vomitory in this category as well. A mention also goes to the varied and exciting drumming of Joakim Sterner who became the group's mainstay over the years. In fact, guitarist David Parland would depart to his more extreme Dark Funeral, while singer Anders Strokirk would decamp to the less extreme Blackshine. The era would not return, but the band would carry on.
This album's incredible riffs, speed, heaviness, no-compromise attitude, dynamism, including the incorporation of melodies, tempo changes and oodles of blasphemy establishes a template for Necrophobic for years and albums to come. - Ali "The Metallian"

NECROPHOBIC - DARKSIDE - BLACK MARK  
Some four years after the release of Necrophobic's acclaimed debut The Nocturnal Silence, and only interrupted by a stop-gap EP from last year, Sweden's Necrophobic is back with a shuffled line up and a slightly more basic sound. Having lost guitarist/composer David Parland to his project Dark Funeral, the band has fulfilled its promise to mix its death further with black metal and offer a rawer sound than was previously the case. Yet, the story remains that the gang is still highly fast and heavy, while having become more explicit in the proclamation of its Satanic beliefs. Phrases like "Satan take my soul" are surely cliched, but if stemming from a true belief, then the band has every right to write as it pleases. Musically, there are less solos and tempo changes and an attempt for a rawer, more simplified assault. I, for one, miss the classy solos that only Necrophobic delivered, but there remain a couple to savour. It is also funny how similar to albums by countrymen Entombed, Dismember, etc. the band leaves no gap between the first two songs. Finally then this album is not up to the standard set by the debut, but on its own is a good metal album. Play tip: Nailing The Holy One featuring a massive vocal contribution by Dissection's Jon Nodtveidt. - Ali "The Metallian"

NECROPHOBIC - THE THIRD ANTICHRIST - BLACK MARK  
The Third Antichrist is Necrophobic's aptly named third album, referencing Nostradamus' prophecy of the three Antichrists. Being its third release, it establishes a few key things for the Swedish black/death metal band. Firstly, and my favourite aspect, the band does not tone down its sound. While many bands tend to mellow or "mature" by the third album, Necrophobic does the opposite: The Third Antichrist is possibly more extreme than its predecessors. Secondly, the music is more intricate than your average black metal band without ever becoming pretentious, tedious or boring. Speed and heaviness rule above all with Necrophobic. This consistent intensity cements Necrophobic as a formidable force in Swedish extreme metal, standing alongside bands like Entombed, Dismember and Bathory.
Martin Halfdan is heard here for the last time, alongside fellow and newer guitarist Sebastian Ramstedt, while singer and bassist Tobias Sidegård and drummer Joakim Sterner serve with conviction. The end-result, to jump ahead, is an album that fails to present any highlights, but is consistent in its conviction and quality from start to finish. Paradoxically, this uniform intensity could make the entire album a highlight - if the extremely Satanic lyrics ("666 – we defile those sworn to Christ") don't stand out more. It took me years to notice the faces hidden in the flames on the album cover - a fitting metaphor for the music itself. This is an album that has an above average half-life, rewarding repeated listens with long-lasting appeal.
In traditional fashion, the first two tracks segue seamlessly into each other, a technique repeated again mid-album. The production is thinner, including on the vocals, but the music bites and has the trademark Necrophobic brutal riffing, combined with a sense of melody and varied tempos on the strings as the drummer moshes ahead oblivious to anything else around him seemingly. Frozen Empire contains a stutter effect on the vocals and melodic soloing on the guitar. It's noticeable that the band's lead guitars are improving. Into Armageddon is less exciting and notable for its stripped down sound and audible distorted bass, chanting etc. The Unhallowed is in a hurry, but not so much that it forgets to include a couple of tasteful metallic leads. The Throne Of Souls Possessed has a passage reminiscent of Dissection, which is unusual for Necrophobic. He Who Rideth In Rage - a pompous title - is mostly metal, but suffers from a slightly alternative sounding riff. Demonic is bestial, strong and includes spoken word. At first, it was unclear where the band was going with the closing cut One Last Step Into The Great Mist. It sounds like a song incorporating a Bauhaus style avantgarde goth song with some world music. It, in fact, begins like The Jesus And Mary Chain's Just Like Honey! It is distinctly boring and uninteresting frankly and a disappointing ending to the album. Nevertheless, The Third Antichrist stands as a formidable entry in the catalogue of extreme metal. - Ali "The Metallian"

NECROPHOBIC - BLOODHYMNS - HAMMERHEART  
Bloodhymns of the year 2002 is a Necrophobic album that has a fast start, but is overall reliant on mid and fast-paced material throughout its ten tracks. First, however, let's pay attention to the cover artwork that looks like an advanced and bloodied version of the artwork for the band's debut, Nocturnal Silence. Bloodhymns adds new guitarist Johan Bergebäck (ex-Morpheus) to the ranks. The result is good. This is necrophobic being reliably brutal, dynamic and blasphemous with its black metal. Necrophobic makes it easy to admire its music and a sadistic pleasure to blast out loud. Yet, bloodhymns will never be cited as the quartet's best. Before dissecting the songs, it is perhaps worth mentioning that a 'blood hymn' refers to a Christian hymn that focuses on the theological theme of the blood of Jesus and its role in the tenets of that religion like atonement and spiritual cleansing.

Dreams Shall Flesh is a good example of this. Breaks, solo, drumming that becomes inventive amidst the straightforward beats and vocals that blast out of dual channels. Here they are so distorted that the sound is breaking over. Act Of Rebellion is more prosaic, if that is the word for such a heavily growled and blasphemous song. Shadowseeds is similar and even has an alternative and gothic tinge. Even half of Cult Of Blood is rather cut-and-dried before making up for it at the last minute. Mourningsoul, however, offers more pounding drums and speed. It is more action-packed, sinister and hard hitting in the drums section. And, as is usual with these guys, it is all constructed atop of the band's harmony. Helfire is perhaps the most vicious of all (of course). The solo is somewhat reconstituted for the band's Blinded By Light, Enlightened By Darkness song several years later. The closing number Among The Storms is an instrumental with effects added.

The songs are good, but not Necrophobic's choice cuts. A criticism is the lack of bass drums as they were exemplary on The Nocturnal Silence and have disappeared here. Both albums were produced by Tomas Skogsberg too. Except for the beginning and end of Blood Anthem, even the bass is also audible only when it is the sole instrument playing. What is not obscured is the band's Satanic power phrases. - Ali "The Metallian"

NECROPHOBIC - HRIMTHURSUM - REGAIN  
The title 'hrimthursum' is a change for Necrophobic. Unlike previous albums, the title's meaning is neither obvious nor, at first glance, in English. The title refers to frost giants of Norse mythology. They are primordial beings symbolizing chaos, destruction and cold, who were believed to roam the lands at the dawn of time.
The album's cover features a church burning and the first track is an Omen-esque intro called The Slaughter Of Baby Jesus (which contains the words "Death To All" which is an album title from the group!). The artwork further depicts the Necrophobic sigil being carried by a hooded person indicating the band has had a hand in the burning of the church.
That much may signal some change for the band, but what has remained the same is the band's brand of instantly recognizable true blue death metal. This is a good start. It is brutal, features dynamic solos, is fast as hell and delivers exciting breaks and tempo changes. The vocals are as evil as can be. The track Blinded By Light, Enlightened By Darkness is a nefarious piece of death metal onslaught that really has it all. Age Of Chaos features female backing vocals and is a weaker track even if the main vocals are quite ferocious in their roar. Yet, it is not much of a song. Bloodshed Eyes has some silly monastic clean backing vocals, which is not a pleasure to hear, and there are more female vocals on The Crossing. Eternal Winter has the band back in business though.
The production of the album, courtesy of Fredrik Folkare, is better than the last Necrophobic album Bloodhymns. He would actually join the band in five years, but that is for another review. - Ali "The Metallian"

NECROPHOBIC - DEATH TO ALL - REGAIN  
Celebration Of The Goat doesn’t waste too much time being Necrophobic. In the same mould as Dissection few can claim to be death and black metal, add touches of melody and still do it with such impact. Revelation 666, for a good chunk of its seven minute length, is an example of what death and black metal should be and incorporates some Slayer sounding heavy riffs and metal solos worthy of any metal tag. In its latter parts the song concentrates on the moody and mid-paced stuff but the impact is never diminished. La Santisima Muerte picks up the full steam ahead nature and only briefly lets up. For Those Who Stayed Satanic has a more black-ish feel to start before picking up the pace and presenting more of the expected. Here the band does dabble into simple raw black metal in the midst of the more melodic and the heavy. Temple Of Damnation is a sort of natural flow of things, not much new but there is no need, with again hints of Slayer in short bits and pieces and a long solo too. The Tower is for the most part Marduk, Dissection and Dark Funeral like. Wings Of Death starts off slow with melody then turns mostly heavy and is perhaps the most technical song on Death To All. The closer and title track is in three parts, The Summoning, Triumph Of The Horned and ...And Jesus Wept. After a brief haunting start it jumps into riffs, melody, solos, speed, and downright evil that make all of this 45 minutes a must have. - Anna Tergel

NECROPHOBIC - WOMB OF LILITHU - SEASON OF MIST  
Necrophobic's 2013 album Womb Of Lilithu is dedicated to the band's former guitarist Blackmoon who killed himself earlier in the year. Blackmoon had departed Necrophobic to be in Dark Funeral and later play in Infernal. This Necrophobic album is neither exactly like the band's older work nor nods to any of those bands. Rather, it leans more toward the material released by Behemoth and, more pertinently, the ascendant Watain. Liking Necrophobic more than Watain or Behemoth, Womb Of Lilithu is not likely to become my favourite release by the band, but it is still a worthy album to be clear. What this, the band's first and only album on Season Of Mist, lacks in relative quality, it attempts to make up for in quantity. This womb is 68 minutes long and contains 14 tracks. A part of the problem is that not all those tracks are bona fide songs and - this is new for Necrophobic - there are multiple intros, outros, instrumentals, sound effects and overdubs that consume time and space. Moreover, the band's sound engineer Fredrik Folkare is now also the band's guitarist, which is ironic since the sound is not strong. The band's speedy passages would have routinely crushed on previous releases, but they ironically do not on Womb Of Lilithu. This is Necrophobic so there is much here that is as extreme as it gets; yet, the drums have lost their oomph. Compare this with the snare of Hrimthursum or the bass drums of The Nocturnal Silence. The cover artwork and the titles also stray from previous output. The black and white cover artwork fronts demons from different grimoires. The Lesser Key Of Solomon features most prominently.
The title track is an instrumental. The melodious solos on Asmodee impress, Amidst the darkness and evil, milder segments lurk. There is some hoarse clean chanting that does not endear the album to me. Never liked Borknagar and do not appreciate the same on songs like Opium Black. To be clear, of course, most of the vocals are harsh and evil. Furfur is a better song and reminiscent of old Necrophobic (with some old Satyricon). Black Night Raven has some speedy riffing and a more complex structure that is a joy to listen to. The album ends with another instrumental, Amdusias.
The problem is, while this is a good album, longtime fans may miss the power of The Nocturnal Silence.- Ali "The Metallian"

NECROPHOBIC - MARK OF THE NECROGRAM - CENTURY MEDIA  
There is a lot to like about Necrophobic, always, and Mark Of The Necrogram is no exception. The band's patented mixture of black and death metal, the insertion of catchy melodies into the speed and brutality, the whirlwind of the guitars atop the drum rolls and the conviction embedded in the vocals set the Swedes apart. The energy, chaos and mysticism are all here on the self-referencing album whose title points to the gang's emblem of choice.
There are several changes here, however. Firstly, Necrophobic's time on Season Of Mist was brief. This album is on Century Media. More importantly, the line-up has changed. Singer Anders Strokirk, who sang on the band's debut The Nocturnal Silence, is back. Blackshine was a waste of time. Also back are guitarist Johan Bergebäck and Sebastian Ramstedt. Drummer and main man Joakim Sterner didn't need to go far to backfill the departees, did he?
Track-wise this is all good stuff. Mark Of The Necrogram, the track, starts ferociously. Odium Caecum begins with a melodic intro, a la Blinded By Light, Enlightened By Darkness, but is off to the brutality races soon enough. Tsar Bomba is horrific and somewhat catchy too. Sacrosanct stands out for its South Of Heaven-esque start. The track soon delivers on the heavy riffing. Pesta is a song fans had heard in advance, but the album delivers a rerecorded version. Not my favourite number from the band or album. Requiem For A Dying Sun is the doom-ish track and has the memorable solo. A track’s title, From the Great Above To The Great Below, feels unnecessary. Variations of it have been overused, but the track leads to the outro Undergången where the bass is heard most clearly. This is worth mentioning because the overall sound is muffled. Yes, it is death metal and chaos and tumult should be baked in, but this fan can imagine how Necrophobic would be even more powerful with a crisp and clear sound. Barring that, at least bring back the bass drums of The Nocturnal Silence. Those were something!
Either way, another impressive album from the Swedes. Given the line-up changes, it becomes even more apparent how important Sterner is to the band. After all, the core of the sound and all characteristics remain unchanged and undisturbed on Mark Of The Necrogram. Enjoy the band's disgusting ways. - Ali "The Metallian"

NECROPHOBIC - DAWN OF THE DAMNED - CENTURY MEDIA  
It looks like Century Media has been the lucky party here. While Necrophobic's albums have been consistently superlative, the records assigned to Century Media have stood out. Dawn Of The Damned is a damned good album. Many bands rely on pretentious 'orchestrations', symphonic singers in corsets, misplaced keyboardists and tacky, saxophone-playing performers - an insult to the dignity of metal fans. Then there is Necrophobic. Always moving onwards and upwards, but never deviating from the path of true black and death. Brutality and melody, catchiness and devastation…
The tone shifts from the instrumental intro to the first full song, which stands strong on its own. Speedy passages, solos, and heavy chords continue beneath the overlays, all while remaining 100% pure, unbridled metal. It's a great opening track and typical of the album's style. Deep growls on this are interspersed among the gruff screams. Dare I say it? The atmospheric guitars glide over the speedy mayhem. Incidentally, those ethereal guitar effects are something the band deploys more than once on this record. If Darkness Be My Guide was good, Mirror Black is even better. It is a barrage of speedy black death from start to finish. The complete deal, lead work, rummaging bass, soaring leads and a drummer who has ignored the instruction manual for his drum kit and instead turned it into a percussive onslaught. Singer Anders Strokirk, who looks especially evil in the video clip for the song by the way, is all in. Tartarian Winds is harsh and abrasive, pounding and mystical. As replete with speed as it is, there is a touch of doomy Bathory on this one. The Infernal Depths Of Eternity is outright vicious and unrelenting. Devil's Spawn Attack features Schmier of Destruction as a guest in something of a surprise. The high vocals prompted me to look at the credits on the album more closely.
Darkness is Necrophobic's guide, which is something that ends up benefiting us all. A damned good album even if the line "Let darkness be my shining guide" comes across as somewhat questionable. - Ali "The Metallian"

NECROPHOBIC - IN THE TWILIGHT GREY - CENTURY MEDIA  
It doesn't mean anything in and of itself, and shouldn't either, but In The Twilight Grey being Necrophobic's tenth album, combined with a different look for the cover artwork compared to the Sweden-based black and death metal band's previous output, has me looking for change or any inkling of deviation from the norm. That norm has always been pure, swift and brutal metal. The kind that requires no changes.
Spoiler alert, if you had not noticed the rating above that is, In The Twilight Grey is the Necrophobic that is exciting and superlative with minimal change and tinkering of the music. That is, the solos are slightly refined, but otherwise one gets venomous deadly vocals that are nevertheless somewhat comprehensible, guitar licks on top of the multitude of riffs, a bass with warmth that covers the low end and creative drumming including rolls to pound and pummel. This is a line-up that delivers. Bassist Allan Lundholm did not stay long and new here (or rather returning) is bass nomad Tobias Cristiansson who perennially seems like a session member everywhere. He has been in Grave, Dismember, Entombed A.D., you name it.
Grace Of The Past starts powerfully. It has a touch of Amon Amarth in it. As Stars Collide begins with bass and a jagged harmony. There is hard riffing and majestic soloing. Stormcrow has a melodic mid-section. Shadows Of The Brightest Night, like the title track, is over seven minutes long and has a beautiful solo that is too short. Mirrors Of A Thousand Lakes is no diddley-doodley, fiddle-dee-deely-la Amorphis folk rock. Instead, it is a traditional Necrophobic speed pounder with more melodic soloing. The aforementioned title track is a reminder of what a good production the vocals and guitars have received. Drums are less successful though. The speed is palpable. The album ends with the curiously titled Ascension (Episode Four). The band has often ended its album with instrumentals and the meaning must lie there. A death metal fan can't stay away from Necrophobic and one should not even try. - Ali "The Metallian"