Though Necrophobic came from this old school, they didn’t exactly graduate at the top of the class (in terms of commercial success and substance). Their primitive, beastly origins sometimes showed a band barely competent at their worst. However their simple and raw outbursts of death ’n doom obsession revealed the viciousness of an early Sepultura.
But unlike Sepultura, Necrophobic’s progression as musicians has been ever-so gradual (this is evident with Death To All’s never-ending track “The Tower”). Surely, their snail-paced evolution is intentional, with a dedication to an ideal of what dark old-school death metal should be. But the quality of their songwriting isn’t on par with their ability to sculpt an evil aura.
That aura, though, is one that most dark metal bands would kill for. As the years have passed, the blackened death squad has drifted further into black metal territory. But whatever you’d like to call it, the filthy and evil melodies, head banging riffs, and gloomy atmosphere basically shines a light upon the Sunlight Studios era. In spite of Necrophobic’s generally static approach, the title track shows them building upon the ironically simple-yet-epic melodic qualities they hinted at during their demo days.
(released June 2, 2009 on Regain Records)
