Ok, let’s get any confusion out of the way before we begin. This is the latest album from the Canadian Necronomonicon, not the Brazilian one, nor the German one. Ok? Still with me? Great, you’ll be glad you stayed.
Rise of the Elder Ones (Season Of Mist) is the fourth album from the Montreal based outfit and it will, I suspect, be welcomed as a warm, comfort blanket for those of you familiar with the Canadians previous output. Those of you au fait with the strengths of death metal will also be familiar with its tropes and limitations so it’s pleasing to report that the addition of one or two curveballs into the mainly straightforward mix push this record firmly into the camp of “worth a listen” rather than “bargain bucket next week” territory.
Overall, the album is a dark but pretty effective slab of over ripened death metal, heavy on the power, light on the technicality but unrelenting in the brutalism. Whilst no death metal officionado, I quite like the odd dose of nasty now and again and Necronomonicon served me up a platter I found myself warming to. Whilst that might sound like damning with faint praise, it’s meant as a genuine compliment.
Firmly in place is the relentlessness of the riffing, the sense of drama, foreboding and the focussed attention to melodic death metal. What sets this apart from the moribund and the “will this do?” rent-a-metallers is a sense of the power of dynamic amongst the piledriving. Light AND shade is, officially, ok, death metal kids.
More, the addition of the occasional bit of symphony will have adherents of the church of Septicflesh nodding their heads in an appreciative, knowing way and there is enough darkness driving through the heart of ‘Dark Corners Of The Earth’ for example to have the Hades infected hordes that swarm around Behemoth sufficiently sated, for a little while at least.
Part of the challenge inherent in delivering a death metal record of note is to try and bring something new to the party. Given that this is a genre where influences and nods to other groups are ten a penny it’s often difficult to find your own voice. More, sometimes you want your potential fan base to know that you might sound a little bit like Suffocation or a little bit like Dimmu Borgir; the reason is obvious: there’s rent to pay and beer to buy. However, I think with Rise of the Elders, Necronomonicon have succeeded: it’s dark, sinister, solid and stirring. I’m off for a lie down.
7/10
Mat Davies