Band: Necronoclast
Title: Ashes
Label: Moribund Records
Distribution: Moribund Records
Release date: February 22nd 2011
Review: CD

Necronoclast are a Scottish one-man project by Greg Edwards, formed in 2003. After the demo-CD Beyond The Light (2004), Necronoclast started recording its debut, Monument, which was released originally in 2007 through Infernal Khaos (very limited), and re-released a year later on through their current label, Moribund Records. This label was responsible as well for The Plague (2007) and Haven (2008), which were, both of them, of a superb quality. And now this great label pleases us with the release of the fourth Necronoclast-full length, called Ashes.

What Necronoclast bring with Ashes isn’t that different from the past. This is the kind of underground stuff especially Scandinavia and North America are known for. Necronoclast’s necrotic and raw Black Metal sounds very early-nineties and the main tempo is mostly fast, including different blast-explosions. That tempo, however, sometimes slows down completely, yet without losing its lovely deep-misanthropic approach. The drum computer gives the whole a somewhat militaristic-mechanical touch, but it sort of gets well with the apocalyptic and wretched atmosphere. Another interesting fact is the use of different vocals: mainly screams, as well as blackened grunts. In spite of lacking originality, the musical variation and the refreshing (quid?) additions are a surplus – listen for example to the atmospheric parts (with acoustics and keyboards) in über-hymn Looking Glass, or that nice equilibrium, as mentioned above, between fastness and doom. And what about the injection of Suicidal Black and Funeral Doom elements? It does caress my misanthropic wishes to humanity…

In a way, this might be a modest homage to, let’s say, Darkthrone, Mysticum, early Ulver, Diabolicum, Niden Div. 187, Xasthur, Leviathan and Cryptic Winds (and so we do have the main countries to mention). The sound isn’t optimum, but what the guy behind this project created with this album is bloody tasteful… Jummie! Duration: forty five minutes.

88/100

Ivan Tibos.