Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve got ourselves a Nostradamus! VM-Underground’s very own chief editor Ricardo already predicted in May 2019 that Necrom would be picked up by a label. And, yes, that has happened. Ricardo based his assumption on their ‘The Light Has Never Been Here’-demo, which showcased a quality ass kicker of Old School Death metal, played by members from various key figures of the Ukrainian metal scene who gained their name and fame through bands like Nokturnal Mortum, Khors, Hate Forest and Drudkh. Maybe it is not quite surprising that Osmose Productions is the chose label for Necrom, as they have already re-released the full Nokturnal Mortum back catalogue on vinyl, CD and cassette tapes and also Khors has dealed with Osmose in the past.
In the years between releasing that impressing demo and this debut album some band members left, but have been replaced by musicians with equally impressing resumes. But to the musical formula not much has changed. Ricardo draw comparisons with Desultory and Evocation, I am still hearing those and the production and guitar sound are still overly recognizable Swedish. It is still all about the all too familiar buzzing-sound, but it is a little less beefed up compared to the demo. The keyboards that were already subtly added on the background of those earlier recordings are now pushed a bit more to the front, not to the Nocturnus-extent, but they have clearly taken on a bigger role here. In fact it doesn’t sound all too far away from what I recently heard from Nightbearer’s latest album, ‘Ghosts Of A Darkness To Come’. Vocally it seems to be a little more diverse as well, Roman Saenko (of Drudkh, Hate Forest and Windswept fame) who did the vocals on the demo was replaced for this debut by Andrii Verovkin (currently of Elderblood and ex-Nokturnal Mortum) who seems to have a slightly wider range to draw from. His vocal range has similarities to a mixture of Jan-Chris de Koeijer (Gorefest), Gary Meskil (Pro-Pain) and Matti Karki (Carnage), which just fits seamlessly into the music. The Swedish vibe also resonates in the artwork by Alex Tartsus, who has pulled off a great job reflecting those early Dan Seagrave kind of covers. And not to mention the big nod to Entombed in the album title…
Wrapping this all up it is safe to say that these Ukrainians have delivered a near-perfect Old School Death Metal record in terms of riffs and song-writing – but with such talented and seasoned musicians as Knjaz Varggoth this shouldn’t come as a real surprise. With more than a kind nod to the Swedish Death Metal scene this should appeal to anyone who has a weak spot for anything that remotely sounds like that buzz-saw. But Necrom is not a quite a tribute band and adds a lot of their own to proudly wear their own musical identity. Mainly due to the use of keyboards, which gives the music a dark, gloomy and slightly more diversified character. Definitely worth checking out.
Osmose Productions
- Country: France
- Style: Black Metal, Death Metal
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