Italy belches forth a band called Necrotrophic, a death/thrash metal ensemble that calls upon the old ways and settles in your ears like a swarm of angry wasps fresh out of an Alabama meth lab. The controlled rhetoric that spits out of these three tracks (and one decent intro) is quite interesting if a bit thin for my taste.

I really like the sound the band goes for here and the vocals are a sort of howling, echoing calling that somehow find a musical nest with which to find symmetry. The riffs are heavy, thrashy collective that takes garage band to familiar, yet welcomed height. The production is just a tad thin in spots, especially the bass and drums, but it’s not terrible. It might add to the ambience of the recording for some, and I certainly didn’t have a major issue. The ever-changing riffs in “Necrotrophic” are fluid and flowing at an uneven perfection that really keep me interested throughout. This might be their ‘hook’ track that they should put out to promote. The band has a genuinely good sound. There’s a couple of Mayhem-sounding riffs in “In Origin” that sound a small bit like “Life Eternal”, and the more dedicated Mayhem fan will identify them easily. 

I hope to hear more from these guys; the Italian horde might just be on the rise!

Hardraw, Necrotrophic & Nexwomb

February 20, 2012

CHRIS

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Hardraw - Hardraw

Cyprus is tapping into the withered and aging vein of NWOBHM with its 7” attempt at the classic sound from the early 80’s. Hardraw casually offers two tracks of some serious U.K. worship that does a decent job of entertaining even the hardest critic of this wonderful and criminally overlooked era.

Some fine guitar work stands out here without falling prey to overworking or overstating, something many newer bands of today fall into unknowingly. Some might deem this pedestrian or too simplistic to be taken seriously, but quite the contrary; these two tracks are fine examples of how less can truly be more. The vocals are as clean as they come, no overt power or high screaming. The tone is even and competent, while the music is much of the same by way of traditionally simple and familiar in bands like Witchfynde or Kraken.

“Night of the Wolf” is okay, but its repetitive note play in the middle of the track gets old quickly and screams of triviality. Once past this and the ho-hum spoken dialogue the song kicks back into gear and ends on a high note. “Strike ‘em Down” is the track that showcases the most vision and resonance, but again its typicality and basic formula might not impress some of the more serious connoisseurs of our fine medium. There is some good guitar moments here, but the drums seemed a bit off in spots in the second track and actually distracted me once or twice.

For an initial foray in the traditional arena these guys are okay; nothing overly exciting but certainly not bad. It all depends on your particular mood that day.

Nexwomb - Militant Heretic Aggression

Release Date:  March 14, 2011
Label: Band Self Released

TRACK LISTING:
1.  Militant Heretic Aggression  2.  Chaostorms (Summon the Gods of War)  3.  Maelstrom of Abyssic Purification 
4.  Apocryptagion     -    Total playing time:  10:27

Black metal from Oregon might be a red flag for some of us too sickeningly steeped in the underground black metal movement. While not exactly sonically engaging, the music from Nexwomb’s Militant Heretic Aggression demo is chaotic reverence that isn’t too bad once you settle into the sound.

Like a good portion of the U.S. black metal that emanates from under the deepest well there isa certain tonal quality to the music that renders it easily identifiable. I can’t begin to tell you what that might be, but I just know homegrown black metal when I hear it. GBK, Lurker of Chalice, Judas Iscariot and Xasthur all have this quality, and Nexwomb employs it as well. The four tracks here rely more on a dark atmosphere encased in speed and mud than crisp or polished metal. The overall shroud of indecency and hatred that hangs over this recording is undeniable, familiarity and typicality be damned. The title track is short, ugly and possesses some decent guitar work for the style. Actually, “Apocryptagion” is one of the more evil songs I’ve come across in some time. The sinister backwards vocal and the haunting drone under it set up the speedy assault to come perfectly. You might not find any real freshness here, but if you come away with the same feelings of deadly unease then the band has done its job well.

Hateful and raw to the point of bloody meat, Nexwomb creates a vibe of audio insanity that can only thrill the most evil among the contingency of soldiers vying for a taste of fire and brimstone put to music. This is really quite interesting overall.

Necrotrophic - Necrotrophic

Release Date:  2011
Label: Band Self Released

TRACK LISTING:
1.  Planet Terror (Intro)  2.  The Ancient Rises  3.  Necrotrophic  4.  In Origin     -    Total playing time:  13:54

For a copy of Necrotrophic Demo contact the band via their myspace page (click on link above).

Release Date:  2011
Label: Band Self Released

TRACK LISTING:
1.  Night of the Wolf  2.  Strike ‘em Down
-    Total playing time:  8:25

For a copy of Hardraw Demo contact the band via their myspace page (click on link above).

 

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DEMO ARCHIVE

For a copy of Militant Heretic Aggression contact the band via their myspace page (click on link above).