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- ALBUM REVIEWS -
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- Necrophobic [2009] Death To All -
Label: Regain Records
Review by Mark Howitt
RATING: 9.5 \m/
Regain Records strikes again with a devastating release from the cult legends Necrophobic. This band has been playing extreme stuff since the early 90’s, as they formed in 1989. With their latest album “Death To All”, Necrophobic prove that they are a dark force to be reckoned with. I have been listening to this band for a couple of years now, and “Death to All” is perhaps the only release of theirs that I have continued playing time and time again. I’m not saying that their older efforts are not quality records, but this new one just destroys all in its path. Many years of dedication and hard work has surely paid off in full, and I would recommend this album to anyone who enjoys early dark death metal/black metal.
From the opening track “Celebration of the Goat”, to the amazing title track finale Necrophobic take you on a Satanic journey through dark riffs and structures. There really is no filler here as each song has astounding qualities about them. Sure there are flaws as with most albums, but all blends well in the end. Favourite tracks include the passage filled “Revelation 666”, “The Tower” and the seemingly anthem-like track “For Those Who Stayed Satanic”. Equally empowering as the music is the lyrics behind each song, although finding them online may find to be a bit of a tedious task. The great thing with this album though is that you can understand most of the words being spewed forth by Tobias, who used to do bass duties for the band. With each listen, you get the feeling that you have been taken into a world of flames, brimstone, and true evil. Even the devil would appreciate this release for its ominous presentation.
This album contains an all star line up, featuring members of Therion, Dismember, Nifelheim among many others. Each member is seasoned with experience and it truly is apparent that Necrophobic are here to stay for quite some time. Death To All delivers in all areas and it is really great to see this band finally getting some recognition, so do yourself a favour and get a copy of this album. It is an album dedicated to those who stayed Satanic…
- NIFELHEIM [1995] Nifelheim (2009 Re-Release) -
Label: Regain Records
Review by Mark Howitt
RATING: 7 \m/
Regain Records have taken us back to the early 90’s era by re-releasing some of Nifelheim’s back catalogue. Nifelheim, for those who are unfamiliar with the band, were a very influential and involved band in the Scandinavian scene in the early 90’s, and even had the late Jon Nödtveidt amongst their roster from 95-98, during some of the most important years of his life.
Nifelheim was the bands first full length release and shows the bands fashioned style of Blackened Thrash Metal first hand. By todays standards, this release may not seem to stick out much, or even appeal to many of the newer fans of the genre, however I assure you that with the release of this album, Nifelheim started to make a name for themselves and their follow up “Devil’s Force” had even more of an impact on the Black Metal community. This is classic material, re-released in perfect timing.
What we have here is the entire self titled release, with a bonus track entitled “Die In Fire”, which is a Bathory cover and was featured on the No Fashion/Hellspawn tribute in 1998. The homage to Bathory is quite satisfying and acts as a nice little bonus track to this re-release for anyone who has been a fan of Tyrant and Hellbutchers work. Nifelheim at the time of its release, was a very important release and it quickly put the band higher on the ranks. In the mid 90’s their career picked up for a time, however soon after the band seemed to go underground again for some time. It is great to see a reputable label like Regain Records taking this pioneering Black/Thrash band under its wing and re-releasing their pinnacle materials. For anyone who missed out on the opportunity to pick up the original release of this album, do yourself a favour and get a copy today. Nifelheim were truly an inspiration to a lot of Black Metal bands, and continues to influence bands as the wand of metal seems to be going back to its thrashier roots. It is the perfect time to unleash Nifelheim upon the masses once again.
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