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20 years old, Necrophobic are stronger than ever. They have finally recovered from the departure of founding member David Parland. The guitarist wrote much of the band’s classic first two records. Replacing him has had mixed results. The turn of the millennium saw a descent into mediocrity, while 2006’s Hrimthursum flourished with color and atmosphere.
Death to All (Regain, 2009) continues Hrimthursum’s hot streak. The production remains dense yet clear, but the album is shorter and more focused. More importantly, the band’s aggression remains intact. It amplifies Slayer-style thrash with majestic melodies — see the stirring close to “Revelation 666.” The result feels uniquely Swedish. Necrophobic share sonic and personnel connections with Nifelheim, Dissection, and Dismember. But they straddle more firmly the line between black and death metal. Death to All wields the former’s atmosphere and the latter’s power with graceful heft.
A great album; I think that the drums are underproduced. Go out and get "Satanic Blasphemies", as well.
I have Satanic Blasphemies and was somewhat underwhelmed by it. They made a big step up between those demos and The Nocturnal Silence.
The Nocturnal Silence is still one of the most underrated and consistently overlooked metal records of all time. I didn't even realize these guys were putting out albums. This is shockingly good.
This song rules hard. I'll have to check it out.
Death to All had me scrambling to pick up Necrophobic's back catalogue. Tremendous stuff.
Boring album, but it's better than most Swedish crap coming out these days.
Is the rest of the album as good as the song posted?
I must admit I didn't hear the album previous to the new one, but Death To All takes me back to this band's early formative Black Mark releases. A very nice surprise indeed
Helm, this song is probably the record's peak, but it is strong throughout. I have heard it start to finish a good number of times and discovered new things to like each time.
Finally got my hands on this album and reviewed it here.