Necromass
Mysteria Mystica Zofiriana
[Unisound]


Having picked up a new guitarist for their follow up to this album ("Abyss Calls Life") really developed Necromass' sound. This is the band at their most primal, and because of this, most black metal. You can hear the roots of a band that listened to fellow Southern bands such as Mortuary Drape and Rotting Christ during development, yet mixed that up with the blackness of Mayhem and Darkthrone during production. "MMZ" is still a decent album, but doesn't compare to the epic follow up.

A few of the tracks, such as "Necrobarathrum" (the packaging and text here are miserable. Unisound= the J.L America of the Mediterranean) display the roots of what WOULD later become "Abyss Calls Life". It's rather interesting listening to this simply because of that. The band KNOW and WANT to do something with the music, but are incapable because of a lack of technical skill.

A decently varied and sometimes violent black metal album is the best way to summarize "Mysteria Mystica Zofiriana". Who could possibly imagine that adding a more proficient lead guitar player could change a band from "average" to "legendary" though? It just goes to show that some bands have the lust to perform incredible metal, but simply can't translate their ideas into actual music. Luckily, with the follow up to this, Necromass managed to do just that...


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