Necrot : "Lifeless Birth"

This band's first two albums both only earned a 7.5 from us. Meaning they are decent at what they do, and those are not bad albums, but when it comes to making time to listen to a death metal album in my free time when not reviewing albums, it's not going to be one of there as there are bands that do it better. The opening track shows some bands also do it worse and are not anywhere near as polished when it comes to the execution of this sort of thing. Some of my lukewarm reception to this band lies in the fact that many of the songs on their albums tend to sound the same. When it comes to this album speed is a factor, the cadence of the vocals changed enough for me to realize this was not the opening track. 

The blur of hyper-aggression causes "Superior" to snarl out from its attack on your ears with an indistinguishable fury from the anger that drove the first two songs. The riffs are not written in a way that might make this kind of impression any easier. There is one riff that stands out from the murk a little but cool riffs alone does not a good song make. The first song that finds itself standing out is "Drill the Skull". It is more deliberate and proves backing off from the one-dimensional speed attack plays in their favor. 'Winds of Hell" must be about steamy farts, as it does not feel evil. This album is however proving an interesting study in intention when it comes to metal. If Deicide was playing this exact same song it would feel evil as Glen Benton has a more diabolical intent in his delivery. As someone who adores all adulation of darkness, I would prefer someone to express what finds that place more honestly than referring to Hell like they are narrating a Dungeons and Dragons campaign. 

There is more hook to the riff that opens 'Dead Memories' so that gets my hopes up. It feels like Entombed covering a Slayer song. The song itself is ok for what it is, but not really blowing me away. The last song is solid for what it is, but the problem with it is that just is not very original and nothing sets these guys apart from hundreds of death metal bands doing the same thing. I have an entire month of the blog dedicated to death metal, so saying it's not my thing does not work either, bands no matter the genre have to work harder to set themselves apart from the pack as the market gets more over-saturated. With that said this album is a cut above the first two and finds them earning an 8 instead,  not album of the year quality or even top 10, but it is worth indiscriminate death metal fans giving a listen. It's being released on Tank Crimes on April 12th. 

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Necrot : 'Mortal"

They said they are certain that this time they have made an album that is going to be regarded as a classic in the genre. They might be a little full of themselves . Very Entombed influenced. The first two songs are pretty monochrome. They have an accent here and there , I think they are putting to much emphasis on steam rolling you with speed. It becomes an example of chasing a sound that compromises writing songs. If your songs do not stand out among one another than how are they going to stand out among the songs of other bands in a genre. The whole album eventually went by in a blur with no noteworthy changes to make me look up from the computer and tune back in. Yes they are skilled musicans who are good at what they do. What they do is not that orginal this time around. The vocals stay in the same guttural rasp. They do not blast at you the whole time, but the labyrinth of riffs they hit you with becomes on dense mass without nuance.

I had to go back an listen to "Asleep Forever" a 3rd time before it took on a clearer indentity. The riffs are more fleet of finger than your typical Entombed impersonation. Though they have channeled a very deep dense sound that keeps them on the Left hand path. The vocals have begun to bore the ever loving shit out of me at this point. Is their drummer totally killer ? Yes, but he is a death metal drummer that is the job requirment. It is not until the last song that they lock into a groove that makes me take notice. You can hear where even these guys draw from some thrash roots on "Sinister Will". It is good enough for what it is , but it is very clear these guys do only one thing, with one dimension to it.

Tey have no intention of relenting on this sonic steam rollering. Now it has become a buzzing blur of distortion that is not broken up at all until the last song which I mentioned earlier is the first time over the course of this album that they give me a groove that will keep my attention. I listen to a ton of death metal.. I just did an entire month dedicated to it so a little Slayer worship tossed in every now and then is not going to really break things up enough for me. I will round this down to a 7.5 , which means it is well done for what it is , but what it is might not be different enough for it to appeal to me. You might have much more meat and potato stastes and might not ask as much from death metal in that case you are not going to know any different. Out on Tankcrimes August 28th.

Mortuos : " Through the Wilderness"

By definition this could be called a death metal super group, as it features members of Exhumed, Repulsion and Necrot. Into the first song I can tell what I like about these guys is the dark quality that finds classic sounding death metal , met with melody . It also feels like these guys give a shit about writing at song and are not just throwing me into a wall of double bass. It reminds me a little of classic Obituary, though darker and denser. Rather than John Tardy's expressive monster belch of a growl, this is lower and more guttural of a vocal approach. The guitar solo's have that Slayer like chaos to them. "Chrysalis of Sorrow" is more like death doom with it's mournfully deliberate pacing that is interspersed with double bass drive section edging up the aggression. Three songs in and I am already thinking this might be one of the best death metal albums I've heard in the first 6 months of 2018, so lets see if they can keep it up.

I might have spoken to soon as "Dead Yet Dream" comes at you with a slower gurgle, that is not as engaging as the first three songs. The doom elements work better in the ominous "Anguish & Insanity" . It speeds up into more of a death metal pace. Midway into the song it hits a cool My Dying Bride like part, though less melodramatic. The vocals do take on a more maniacal Obituary like tone. The title track finds them slowing down on the verses to create the stomp of a needed groove. While they can play at that more Morbid Angel like pace , I think it's the moments where they show restraint that are more unique to who they are . "Prisoner Unto Past" races off into a more typical break neck death metal pace. It then locks into a more grooving double bass section of what I am guessing is the verses, it's marginally more murky in the structure department.The layered shift of the guitar tone also helps set this song apart. I don't think they should have returned to the opening pace at the end, but it's not a deal breaker.

They throw the more Cannibal Corpse speed at you to end things with "Screaming Headless". Thankfully that only lasts for the first time, as it would have been tedious. The stiff drum beat to that kind of death metal is not my favorite. It does switch up into a more moody ending.  I'll round this up to an 8.5 as it sometimes plays to safely with the death metal conventions. These guys are just slower death metal with a range of emotion that sometimes extends past rage. That is more than can be for half the so-called brutal death metal bands.This comes out June 22 on Tank Crimes.

Necrot : "Blood Offerings"

Well when these guys have their PR people claim they sound like classic death metal they are not lying.