New items in stock:
Equinox (US) - The Immortal Kind
Speedy, grooving black/death metal like Angelcorpse meets Impaled. Good mix of brutality and melody with a bit more emphasis on the latter; lots of '80s style soloing and double bass. Recommended for any death metal fan, modern or staunchly oldschool. Gets a lot of plays from me; reminds me of Behemoth at points.
Onward - The Neverending Sun
Almost impossibly catchy traditional/US style power metal. NO keyboards; just riff after awesome riff with fantastic lead guitar work and soaring vocal melodies. Exactly the sort of thing for people who love Jag Panzer and other USPM greats. I may be a death/black/grind person most of the time, but I can't get enough of this.
Unburied/Seeking Obscure - Split
Brutal, chaotic death metal meets progressive-tinged mid-'90s style death. Side one is savage and unique band Unburied, who rip through four tracks of gore-soaked insanity, and side two is the excellent Seeking Obscure who plays his custom brand of rolling, experimental death complete with a Cancer cover. Good stuff from both bands.
Additionally, a new review of Necro Cult's CD at the Metal Archives has been added:
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Total fucking CHAOS. - 73%
Written by Bezerko on February 3rd, 2008
“What the fuck is this?” is probably going to be any person’s reaction when listening to Necro Cult. As the songs continue to play, one of two distinct opinions are going to be formed. The first, and most likely reaction is going to be “this is noise, turn it off, it sucks”. The second reaction, which you’re not going to hear very often, is “wow this is awesome!”. Now this is a compilation of all Necro Cult’s previous outputs, so I’m going to try and split this review up a bit, as it would be ridiculous to take this in as something of a full-length album, and it’s an attempt to give a short summary of the individual Necro Cult releases. The compilation as a whole will be mentioned after.
Of the six releases (!) that “Total Fuckin’ Necro: Demos 2007” comprises, we’re first treated to the “Total Fucking Necro” demo. The sound is very thin, drums barely audible, and the vocals are way too high. In fact, so high and so distorted that they drown out everything else in certain segments. The demo is awash with noise (as the rest of the Necro Cult material is), and this is generally the point that people are split over. Is it just random shit, or is it plain fucking awesome? Well, my personal opinion on its effect on this demo is split. Quite simply, it does nothing to add or take from the overall sound. When the riffing comes through, it’s pretty indistinct, so it blurs the bad shit, but it just doesn’t really fit in. Five out of ten for “Total Fucking Necro”.
Next up is the “Utter Darkness” demo. I must say, much better, the sound isn’t as thin, the vocals are better (instead of AAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH DISTORTION!), and it generally sounds cooler. “Utter Darkness” has what is probably the most clear sounding track on this compilation, “Absolute Hate”. The riffing still isn’t in this demo though. It’s black metal, and nothing more. It’s not so much bad, but it’s generic and boring. Blasting, fast, it’s like a noisy “Blizzard Beasts” (an Immortal album for the uninitiated), without the frostbitten “winteriness” of course. The exception is a slow bit in “Utter Darkness”, which slays. Audible drums as well! Six out of ten this time around.
Getting better Nocturous…
Oh yeah, “Chaotic Black Fuckin’ Metal”. This demo is just great. Think Carpathian Forest and Sadistik Exekution chucked into a bag full of noise. When you take out the result of your concoction, you get “Chaotic Black Fuckin’ Metal”. Even when it’s just blasting along like the first two demos, it just sounds so much better. It feels like it’s rocking, yet it’s not. It’s chaotic, it’s black metal, and it’s probably fucking as well. This is the best stuff yet, nine out of ten, or to make that sound more impressive, ninety out of one hundred! Grimness!
“Ultimate Death” is like “Chaotic Black Fuckin’ Metal”, minus the chaos. It seems more coherent than previous demos. The most accessible Necro Cult material available, though if you don’t like ear rape, you’d still stay away from it. The “rocking” feel is still there in certain sections, though not as present as it was on previous demos. In particular, “For the Glory of Satan” sounds like an improvised Carpathian Forest outtake and “Unholy Cult” sounds like Necro Cult’s version of Sodom. Down to a seven, just doesn’t feel as good as “CNFM”.
The “Revolt” demo consists of very fuzzy, thin guitars while the vocals take a backdrop. It’s fast, but it’s not as insane as the other material. It’s similar to much of the black metal coming out nowadays, just with a very noisy Necro Cult twist. The title track is pretty cool, but otherwise it’s standard stuff, just a bit noisier. Back down to a five for “Revolt”.
The final two tracks are taken from Necro Cult’s split with Kroatoan, another U.S black metal band. Some cool riffage on both tracks and “Nekro Slut” even has a sample! The songs from the split are the best Necro Cult stuff other than the “Chaotic Black Fuckin’ Metal” demo. A fine way to finish off the split, eight out of ten.
Now, that is how this release shapes up when taken as separate demos, but what if you want to listen to the whole thing in one go? Well, “Total Fuckin’ Necro: Demos 2007” will test your patience. While individual demos may be really cool, the style gets grating after 66 minutes of it. If Necro Cult ever makes a full-length album, it better not be more than 30 minutes long. There’s not a huge difference demo to demo, so it’s likely that you’ll loose interest while listening to it. When you loose interest, you won’t hear any of the great bits, and just hear two things; black metal and noise. Not to say it’s a bad listen, but it’s boring when taken as a whole. Necro Cult is great when you just listen to one or two demos, but 66 minutes of it? No thanks.
“Total Fuckin’ Necro: Demos 2007” is a good document of the band’s material thus far. The band and Nocturnal Transmission Records should be commended for releasing this for the metal community. I dare say I’m going to be spinning some of the material on here for quite a while to come. Enjoy or suffer, it’s an interesting listen and even if you hate it, you will take something from this release. To sum it up, fucking CHAOS.
