Necronomicon
Necronomicon
[Kraze]
Sodom, Destruction, Kreator... Iron Angel, Running Wild, Necronomicon? Here's yet another phenomenal German thrash band that was lost in the shuffle of the legendary headmost three, and the real tragedy about this one is that they actually have a rather original sound to them. Although crediting Slayer, Testament, Mötorhead, etc. as primary listens and influences, the thrashing here is actually more along the Hellhammer lines spliced with a scad of early 80's punk bands (Discharge, Black Flag, etc.), and really it comes across pretty close to Slaughter's Strappado, except entrenched in ancient medieval themes. Extremely fast riffing, primeval and sloppy solos, elementarily accelerated drumming, and energetic, rooted vocals, all embedded in a battered garage-like production - what else could you possibly need, or desire here?
The entire 1985 debut is heavily proto-black, and when Necronomicon break off into a strange and disjointed ambient interlude during the crushing opener "Blind Destruction," you will know that they are striving for something more thoughtful and dark in their atmosphere. As the album unfolds the axes seem to wail longingly into the night at times, and then are suddenly joined by an intensely spirited and blended disposition of noise that uplifts you and next leaves you laying beneath the ground, as if wrenched into the depths of hell itself; that makes close to absolutely no sense at all, but just listen to tracks like "Iron Charm" and "Possessed by Evil," and tell me that the metal pouring through your speakers isn't completely bludgeoning. There really isn't much need to continue from here. This is what it's all about, and one of those albums that you can never recommend highly enough to those that you know will appreciate it.
Unfortunately this debut is to Necronomicon as In the Sign of Evil and Sentence of Death were to Sodom and Destruction, so trekking further through the discography will still be fairly solid (at least for a while), but nevertheless disappointing. It's agonizing to watch these digressions endlessly take place, especially with most of the retro-thrash nonsense and useless comebacks that are being attempted these days, and I wish more often that not somebody would finally put most of these bands out of their misery. But regardless of what happens, nothing can detract from what there once was, and this is another one that I'd have to say is absolutely essential.
"What is new came from the old, and what is old will replace the new." - The Book of the Necronomicon
Metal lives forever.
© 2002 hando
The entire 1985 debut is heavily proto-black, and when Necronomicon break off into a strange and disjointed ambient interlude during the crushing opener "Blind Destruction," you will know that they are striving for something more thoughtful and dark in their atmosphere. As the album unfolds the axes seem to wail longingly into the night at times, and then are suddenly joined by an intensely spirited and blended disposition of noise that uplifts you and next leaves you laying beneath the ground, as if wrenched into the depths of hell itself; that makes close to absolutely no sense at all, but just listen to tracks like "Iron Charm" and "Possessed by Evil," and tell me that the metal pouring through your speakers isn't completely bludgeoning. There really isn't much need to continue from here. This is what it's all about, and one of those albums that you can never recommend highly enough to those that you know will appreciate it.
Unfortunately this debut is to Necronomicon as In the Sign of Evil and Sentence of Death were to Sodom and Destruction, so trekking further through the discography will still be fairly solid (at least for a while), but nevertheless disappointing. It's agonizing to watch these digressions endlessly take place, especially with most of the retro-thrash nonsense and useless comebacks that are being attempted these days, and I wish more often that not somebody would finally put most of these bands out of their misery. But regardless of what happens, nothing can detract from what there once was, and this is another one that I'd have to say is absolutely essential.
"What is new came from the old, and what is old will replace the new." - The Book of the Necronomicon
Metal lives forever.
© 2002 hando