Necrophobic
Spawned By Evil
[Black Mark]
Another in a glut of EPs made up mostly of cover songs. This time it's
Necrophobic, and they've chosen to do Slayer's "Die By The Sword", Venom's
"Nightmare" and Bathory's "Enter The Eternal Fire", along with an original
("Spawned By Evil"). I'll start with the covers (tracks 2, 3 and
4 respectively).
"Die By The Sword" is a great song to begin with, and the Necrophobic version holds up very well in comparison, Perhaps it's the bands foundation as a black/death metal hybrid that gives then an edge, as this is probably the single best Slayer cover I've ever heard...good stuff. "Nightmare" is up next, and while I really like the original, I found this version to be quite inferior - Necrophobic's sound is just too controlled to do it any real justice, and while I applaud them choosing to do a lesser known Venom song (and doing it almost note for note perfect), the end result is a bit of a let down. The last cover is "Enter The Eternal Fire"...now, this is my favorite track off Bathory's "Under The Sign Of The Black Mark" album, and also one of my favorites Bathory songs overall, so I was expecting QUITE a lot out of it - Necrophobic manage (for the most part) to do a faithful (if somewhat "by the books") version. They didn't butcher the song by any means, but neither did they really add anything to it that warrants them covering it. The strength of the track alone makes this a better cover than "Nightmare", but I still feel "Die By The Sword" was the best cover on this EP, as on that song Necrophobic manage to add a certain something that made it work. Now, onto the original (and actual first track on the mCD)...this was the first taste of the new "strictly black metal" Necrophobic, and I feel that in comparison to the old "The Nocturnal Silence" Necrophobic, this one just doesn't cut it. They're a competent enough band musically to pull it off, but the song itself focuses far too much on being "black" and loses the great dynamic feel that their earlier black/death style had. Still, it's not a bad track, but even up against the covers, it's weak. Better luck next time guys...
My overall evaluation is grab this if you like the bands being covered, as they're (minus the Venom song) decent versions. If however the thought of yet another band paying "homage" to the masters of old makes you break out in hives, well....avoid this.
© 1999 chorazaim
"Die By The Sword" is a great song to begin with, and the Necrophobic version holds up very well in comparison, Perhaps it's the bands foundation as a black/death metal hybrid that gives then an edge, as this is probably the single best Slayer cover I've ever heard...good stuff. "Nightmare" is up next, and while I really like the original, I found this version to be quite inferior - Necrophobic's sound is just too controlled to do it any real justice, and while I applaud them choosing to do a lesser known Venom song (and doing it almost note for note perfect), the end result is a bit of a let down. The last cover is "Enter The Eternal Fire"...now, this is my favorite track off Bathory's "Under The Sign Of The Black Mark" album, and also one of my favorites Bathory songs overall, so I was expecting QUITE a lot out of it - Necrophobic manage (for the most part) to do a faithful (if somewhat "by the books") version. They didn't butcher the song by any means, but neither did they really add anything to it that warrants them covering it. The strength of the track alone makes this a better cover than "Nightmare", but I still feel "Die By The Sword" was the best cover on this EP, as on that song Necrophobic manage to add a certain something that made it work. Now, onto the original (and actual first track on the mCD)...this was the first taste of the new "strictly black metal" Necrophobic, and I feel that in comparison to the old "The Nocturnal Silence" Necrophobic, this one just doesn't cut it. They're a competent enough band musically to pull it off, but the song itself focuses far too much on being "black" and loses the great dynamic feel that their earlier black/death style had. Still, it's not a bad track, but even up against the covers, it's weak. Better luck next time guys...
My overall evaluation is grab this if you like the bands being covered, as they're (minus the Venom song) decent versions. If however the thought of yet another band paying "homage" to the masters of old makes you break out in hives, well....avoid this.
© 1999 chorazaim