With the untimely passing of guitarist Jesse Pintado, things looked exceptionally grim for the grindcore super group.  In 2009, the surviving members (Shane Embury, Nick Barker and Tomas Lindberg) employed Criminal guitarist Anton Reisenegger to fill the late guitarist’s shoes. Reformed, revitalized and with some guest vocal support from Peter Tagtgren and Jeff Walker (ex-Carcass), Necropolis Transparent blisters with barbaric bliss.

Ripping right open with a blitzkrieg blast courtesy of Barker, plenty of Grind frenzy from Reisenegger and Embury, and Lindberg is able to shred his vocal chords on the vicious “Brethren of the Pentagram.” “Accelerated Mutation” continues the assault with heaps upon heaps of Grindcore greatness. Embury’s bass chugs along while the drums and riffs sizzle.  The song’s midsection slows down just a bit but the brutality is never compromised in the barely 2-minute long assault.

Jeff Walker helps out Lindberg in the vocal department on the undulant and blasting “The Embodiment of Paradox and Chaos.”  Lock Up’s original vocalist Peter Tagtgren throws in his lower register on the pounding title track. A slightly more Death and less Grindcore approach is taken on the lengthy (as in 3 minutes long) “Parasite Drama.”  While Lock Up expanded their attack on the previous song, “Anvil of Flesh” gets back to their standard attack. “Rage Incarnate Reborn” proves to be an outright riff-fest as Reisenegger more than proves his worth and “Unseen Enemy” displays a bit of unusual Grindcore complexity and includes some more backing vocals from Walker.

Again, a slightly more Death Metal approach is taken with “Roar of a Thousand Throats” and surprisingly, Lock Up finds a few seconds to slow and belt out some grooves while Lindberg liquidates his vocal chords. “Infiltrate and Destroy” briefly utilizes a Deathy riff before blasting into one of the most aggressive and fastest songs on the disc.  Grind returns in full force on “Discharge the Fear” but Lock Up stretches their time and riff restraints and the song takes over 3-mintues to display the most variety on disc. The to-the-point assault returns with the very Napalm Death-esque “Vomiting Evil.” “Stigmartyr” speeds along before the chugging and dizzying “Through the Eyes of My Shadow Self” blossoms into one of the strongest moments on the disc.  Tagtgren again helps out on the vocals while Barker and Reisenegger push the song into Black Metal territory in several spots with the sheer speed and discordant riffs.  Closing the disc is the Doom-friendly instrumental “Tartarus.” Embury carries the song with his thunderous bass and Barker actually gets to take a breather before the song morphs into pure feedback and noise.

There is nothing but top-shelf, light-speed Grindcore on Necropolis Transparent. Both Barker and Lindberg have never sounded this fierce while Embury must have been hiding these violent outbursts from Napalm Death as they are just too hostile for his full-time band.  Reisenegger proves to be a worthy replacement for the legendary Pintado while Andy Sneap’s mixing makes the disc exceptionally heavy.  Necropolis Transparent is easily Lock Up’s best and proves to be one of the most uncompromising albums of 2011.  Highly Recommended.

TRACK LISTING

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*Comments:

1.  Brethren of the Pentagram
2.  Accelerated Mutation
3.  The Embodiment of Paradox
      and Chaos
4.  Necropolis Transparent
5.  Parasite Drama
6.  Anvil of Flesh
7.  Rage Incarnate Reborn
8.  Unseen Enemy
9.  Stygian Reverberations
10.  Life of Devastation
11.  Roar of a Thousand Throats
12.  Infiltrate and Destroy
13.  Discharge the Fear
14.  Vomiting Evil
15.  Stigmartyr
16.  Through the Eyes of My
       Shadow Self
17.  Tartarus (Instrumental)

Total playing time:  41:08

Release Date: July 12, 2011
Label: Nuclear Blast Records

Lock Up - Necropolis Transparent

Reviewer: Rottenbucher

August 8, 2011