Necrophobic’s latest, 2009′s Death to All, is a merging together of the band’s past efforts as a death/black metal hybrid with various trends in contemporary Swedish black metal. Although there are no more than a few surprises on this release for longstanding fans, the material presented here nonetheless stands head and shoulders above the myriad comebacks emerging from Sweden in the last few years, and probably, most of its current black metal as well. This is probably due to the fact that not only has Necrophobic been around since the late eighties, but also that they never truly quit the game played by many of their contemporaries, averaging an album every three years since their formation (Death to All is their sixth full-length release). Yet however true to form they may be after all these years, it must be noted that Necrophobic is a very different band than they once were, in the sense that lineup changes have taken all but two of the band’s members that played on their brilliant debut, The Nocturnal Silence. That includes guitarist David Parland, the band’s primary composer for that album, and although his absence certainly leaves its mark, many of the musical qualities that made Necrophobic’s debut so strong and unique are still present.
The band play tightly constructed songs, primarily death metal in form, that build themselves out of confrontational and restless melodies layered over vaguely dissonant minor chord progressions, something like a hybrid of nearly equal parts early Slayer, Dismember, and Bathory. Necrophobic like to play fast, thrashing riffs that ride a buzzsaw of an E-string like dark warriors on spectral mounts, and their default percussive aspect is a violent, relentless thrash beat. Witty and infernal sections, resembling some demonic dance, rely on simple modulations that date back to the band’s demo days and fit neatly with descending, Nordic-style riffs and adjacent to mournful clean sections. In fact, one of the band’s major strengths in the old days was their ability to juxtapose fairly different riffing styles within a string of highly coherent compositions, and here they mostly get it right. There is definitely a lot of variety on this album, but often it feels as if there is little holding it all together. Some segments seem to lead absolutely nowhere but back to the comfort of another verse, and these are in no short supply as the band have long abandoned the sonata-like composition of their early material. Furthermore, the track placement on this album is quite awkward, especially that of the second song with its epic, Iron Maiden-inspired outro.
Nonetheless, Death to All does offer some interesting listening material, at least in terms of its most superficial aspects. There are a handful of subdued but wonderfully composed guitar solos that circle and revel before exploding into neoclassical speed runs, and dancing dual- and even triple-guitar harmonies dazzle the listener before breaking way to more violent pummeling. Many songs also boast of chanted, nearly operatic vocals (in addition to those more typical of this genre, of course) that add a highly theatrical element to this music, and this is expanded upon by the martial drumming and beautiful yet somewhat simplistic acoustic guitar interludes appearing at the close of the album’s eponymous and final song. “Death to All” in particular, along with Revelation 666 and “Temple of Damnation,” features some seriously sinister and eerie segments which are balanced quite well with mournful clean guitars and prophecies of a Satanic apocalypse, all the rage in Swedish metal lyrics at this point in the genre’s history. (And on that note, the first song, “Celebration of the Goat,” distinctly resembles recent Watain in both its vocal patterns and general flow.) Some other positive surface touches include a clear and balanced production style, quite unlike the typically horrific Necromorbus affair, a hint of Spanish in the lyrics, and a handful of (most probably) subconsciously-placed architectural references within a highly structural death metal album.
All these elements, unfortunately, cannot save Death to All from its status as a less-than-classic release by a once-classic band. All the ingredients are here, and it is still a relatively coherent and thoughtful release compared to, for example, the latest Interment disc, but at the end of the day, the music is, at large, put together somewhat clumsily, as if this band, though extremely talented, were not entirely sure of their own direction and consequently spread themselves too thin. This album is a good addition to a nostalgic fan’s Necrophobic collection, but it is little more than that because, although it contains frequent flashes of brilliance, the whole in this case is no more than the sum of its often vaguely-related parts. But “for those who stayed Satanic,” Necrophobic keeps the fire burning, if only half as bright as it once was.
For more info: Chances are that you can pick up this album at Amoeba Records in Los Angeles, but if not, order it from this location.
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