by Hugo Reyes (@hvreyes5)
The ambition of Necrot is high and can be read as pompous going into the album cycle for Mortal: create a death metal classic. All the necessary components in the genre are here. The riffs are endless and plentiful; There’s plenty of blast beats to pound against your brain; and of course the lyrics deal in the particular tropes of death and nihilism.
It’s a record that could only be made nine years into Necrot’s existence. Their progression has been one of increments, dating back to the 2016 release The Labyrinth, which compiles several of their early demos, when they were still a two piece. Luca Indrio would write everything but the drum parts, which drummer Chad Gailey was responsible for. By the time Blood Offerings came in 2017, the band had already made the next crucial step of adding a guitarist, creating a new dynamic and adding an interplay to keep things interesting.
Now, three years later, the band came ready to pulverize the listeners in new ways. They had spent several years touring, becoming even tighter as a band. “Your Hell” sets the precedent for the listener and is a lesson in how to riff without bludgeoning the listener so much that it becomes boring. Several times across the album that feat is pulled off, with the shortest song barely missing the four minute mark. Necrot earns every second though, especially with the biggest flex of all: an eight minute closing title track. If you choose to only listen to one death metal record this year, this should be the one.