Rise of the Elder Ones

Canadians Necronomicon have been doing the rounds of the blackened death metal scene for quite some time now, in fact they formed back in 1988. ‘Rise of the Elder Ones’ is their fourth full length studio album, and continuing their previous label shifting (each album previous they’ve switched label), album number four sees them jump straight into the laps of one of the ‘bigger’ boys, with Season of Mist snapping them up. My only previous experience of the band was their previous album ‘The Return of the Witch’, and not a lot has changed at all since 2010.

Musically Necronomicon play a hybrid of death metal with a blackened edge (and even some thrashiness thrown into their riffage pot too, so as to attempt to please most ears). From the off it’s clear that these guys are super refined, with pristine musicianship and polished production pushing their sound boldly in to your face throughout with the almost constant pace. There’s plenty of modern day Behemoth to be heard in their more rampant riffage, but also touches of Dimmu Borgir/Cradle of Filth coming to the forefront due to the usage of synth work (although, the synth itself is a little bit naff in comparison with the aforementioned bands, while not Casio keyboard hell, it certainly doesn’t sound even close to being truly orchestral, put it that way).

Although most of the album powers along as a breakneck pace, the title track ‘Rise of the Elder Ones’ brings a slower crawl to the proceedings, with occasional nods to Morbid Angel in the crunchy chugs and clickety-clack bass drum led rhythms. A lot of the riffage reminds me of the style which The Chasm do so well, just void of the majority of their atmosphere and with a more clinical spin put on things. Oddly, in ‘From Beyond’, the guitars drop out so as to feature a Dimebag Darrell-esque bluesy solo, which doesn’t particularly fit in with the rest of the song’s blasting drums and tremolo picked riff salad. ‘Celestial Being’ is a pretty dull synth instrumental track which just meanders along without really inspiring much in the way of anything, before leading into ‘Dark Corners of the Earth’ which is actually probably one of the better tracks on the album, with great arrangements and a powerful presence.

This is not a bad release per se, but it did leave me feeling cold after listening to it. I gave it a good few chances to grow, but it just couldn’t hook me – all I feel is indifference. It has its moments with some decent riffage and fair arrangements, but as an album I found it lacking for the most part. Necronomicon have some decent ideas, but they often throw them at you all at once causing them to become muddled, or are so clinically put together that it just seems to have all the atmosphere and life sucked right out of them. It’s almost as clinical as the band member’s perfect corpse paint. Anyhow, if you dream of a beefed up version of Dimmu & Cradle with Behemoth sized riffage – this could well be your new favourite band. Failing that, you’re probably safe passing this by.

Originally written for www.avenoctum.com

Necronomicon is one of many Necronomicons, I'm not sure which edition. "Rise of the Elder Ones" is the Canadian group's fourth full-length premonition into the black seas of infinity, and with song titles like "Dark Corners of the Earth" and "Rise of the Elder Ones," it's clear that they have a hankering for Lovecraftian lyrics and themes. The ten-song tribute to the ancient gods is fairly decent, but it falls into the herd's standards instead of rising above them. Necronomicon's style is betwixt and between the blast-laden brutality of Morbid Angel and Dimmu Borgir's symphonic-charged black metal serenades, and that's really all there is to say about the album, unfortunately. Listening to this makes me want to find my copy of that awesome Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth game and fry some fish in Innsmouth with lead, but not much else.

They remind me musically of Morbid Angel before its members started listening to "Goodbye Horses" and dancing naked in front of a mirror with their wangs tucked in, but with symphonic/orchestral elements that pop up occasionally. "Rise of the Elder Ones" pretty much offers a proper representation of death metal with a little twinge of some blackened elements, and it's overall fairly acceptable and intense. Necronomicon loves to use blast beats, blazing paces, and anything else missing from the stew of death metal. They change the vocals up a bit from time to time with narrative sections that contradict the basic growling grunts, and the band tosses in a mid-paced anomaly for a song or two as well, but typically "Rise of the Elder Ones" is a storm of sin, slaughter, speed.

A mix of things turn this shoggoth into a small puddle of slime that‘s easily scooped up via shovel and casually thrown out. The biggest problem is that it's entirely predictable and based stagnantly on standard death/black metal themes that are found everywhere, albeit superiorly. I really don't find any of the anthems to stick out or leave an impression on me, because they're just rooted in the same structure and preach identical musical traits without bringing anything to the table that colors up this body of grey, sterile death metal. The symphonic traces are enjoyable touches of outside colors that aren't too foreign within the group's presence, but they do not make the record fantastic. Making it so would require riffs that stick, percussion patterns that aren't limited to blast beats, vocals that hold the listener, songs with spines, whatever else Necronomicon is missing.

Maybe I'm being a bit too hard on "Rise of the Elder Ones," because it is, believe or not, a passable experience; there are worse things in the world. Although enjoyable in small increments, I find myself viewing this as an album meant for background music when someone at a crowded party demands some death metal, which is odd, because I have yet to attend such a gathering. "Rise of the Elder Ones" has the usual twists and turns of a rollercoaster that I've experienced a thousand times or more—it just doesn't do it for me. It's like stumbling upon Lovecraft's nameless city, only to find its mortifying race of reptilian monsters bickering about their favorite Kardashians and sporting Hoobastank merch. Disappointing? Yeah, a little.

This review was written for: www.Thrashpit.com

Necronomicon is a death metal group that doesn't look to show much mercy to its listeners. Established in 1988 from Montreal, Quebec, this deadly trio released a few full-length albums whilst switching from label to label. They released their first one, "Pharoah of Gods," in 1999 under Hypnotic Records, then "The Sacred Medicines" in 2003 under Unique Leader and Skyscraper, and afterwards their third release, "The Return of the Witch" in 2010 under Napalm Records. This time around, they would be under Season Of Mist where bands such as SepticFlesh and Rotting Christ are signed to, and unleash their fourth album in 2013 called "Rise of the Elder Ones."

The band's musicianship is showcased rather solidly in this effort. For starters, the vocals are aggressive and raw, fitting great into the rest of the dark and brutal instrumentation. In regards to that, the guitars are played off quite well. They perform some great and punchy riffs and melodies, such as in the explosive beginning of the album's intro track "Resurrected." Though they tend to noodle with the solos, such as in the ending of "From Beyond," they are done decently. The percussion does hold up as well, but it appears to be quite reliant on blast beats, and could use some more variety to be a more captivating element. Nonetheless, the instrumentation in this album plays its role quite nicely.

The mixing, like the musicianship, is decent, but it certainly isn't flawless, either. To start off, it does allow some atmosphere into the music, and it also makes the instruments sound crisp and distinct from each other to avoid an over-blended sound. However, there are plenty of times where it does sound a bit too plastic and lacking in resonance, especially in the faster-paced segments. The instruments tend to sound a tad flat, and it is a bit distracting from the album's enjoyment. In spite of that flaw, though the production is on the solid side nonetheless.

As suggested by the album's fiery cover artwork, along with the band's moniker, "Rise of the Elder Ones" is a slab of destructive death metal with tinges of black metal. As it turns out, the music comes out as somewhat of a mixed bag. On one hand, there are a few issues that the songs themselves unfortunately succumb to. Firstly, the music overall does tend to get repetitive, whether it be between the tracks or within the tracks' structures themselves. For an example, the tracks "Resurrected," "From Beyond," and "Dark Corners of the Earth" pretty much have the same entrance with the blast beats and rapid-fire pacing, and it does get stale. On top of that, as stated earlier in regards to the production, there are times where the music sounds empty and lacking in atmosphere.

On the other hand, however, the album does have good things in it when it comes to the music itself. The tracklist, first of all, has a great sense of dynamic between explosive and quieter moments. This allows for the more devastating parts of the album to leave a larger impact on the audience. On top of that, the death metal battalion brought forth in this album has some black metal-esque hints to it, giving the music much more of a hellish tone to it. This really serves as a positive point for the music that adds up to the record's power. In fact, the best tracks that this album has to offer are the title track and "The Fallen," because they contain the most atmosphere and resonance and are captivating in how steadily-paced but heavy-fisted they are. Though this record does have its pitfalls, there is plenty to make the music at least decent.

"Rise of the Elder Ones" is overall a decent death metal record. It is a bit of a mixed bag where it has a number of pros as well as some cons, and it evens up to be above average. From the musicianship to the songs themselves, this album proves to be a fairly enjoyable album. Even though this is a little bit far from essential listening for death metal fans, those who are really wanting to find a new band belonging to that caliber will probably find something to like here. With some retooling and ironing out of the issues described earlier, Necronomicon will likely become a monster truly to be feared.


Originally posted on: http://metaljerky.blogspot.com/

Twenty-five years is a long time for a band, especially that of such an underground and extreme nature, to exist. To persevere through decades of an ever-changing landscape of trends, technologies and aging fan base, it is a feat to be unmatched by few. However, some bands have managed to reign impressively and as fiercely as the day they were born. Such is the case for Canadian death metallers Necronomicon. Since 1988, they have created masterful works that delve deep into the underworlds of death and occultism with their most-recent being, 2013's Rise Of The Elder Ones.

It's been three years since Necronomicon's last album, The Return Of The Witch, and not much has changed as far as the band's approach in its crafting of Rise Of The Elder Ones. While the latter remains the superior of the two in terms of production quality, the songs boast similar songwriting styles and sound. The two albums as a whole could be seen as two evil twins, or as chapters written in the same unholy book. Nevertheless, each are spectacular records worthy of any fan's collection. Rise Of The Elder Ones finds Necronomicon unequivocally in top form and amazingly peaking some twenty-five years after inception.

Necronomicon has perfected a niche for themselves, creating a sound that is a crossbreed of Morbid Angel meets a less symphonically-saturated Fleshgod Apocalypse. Sonically, Rise Of The Elder Ones is to a lesser degree brutally crushing than it is fierce in its attack. The album is riddled with absolutely superb riffs among a multitude of tempos and song structures. There is a harmonious balance throughout of death metal mixed with blackened elements and symphonic highlights. Upon the record's first track, "Resurrected", Necronomicon greets the listener, hypnotically ensuring a prolonged listen to the rest of the album. Other album highlights include: "The Living God (Pharaoh Of Gods Part II)", " From Beyond" and, "The Valley Of Lost Souls". Each song on Rise Of The Elder Ones is uniquely crafted with "The Nuclear Chaos" and "Celestial Being" being two instrumental interludes, which add a nice balance and atmosphere to the work as a whole.

Rise Of The Elder Ones is a full-bodied work and perhaps Necronomicon's best to date. Throughout its history, the band has maintained an authenticity that is unwavering and at this point is ingrained deep within its very soul. With their newest creation, the band puts forth, in an impressive display, the accumulation of twenty-five years of experience in a sound that is uniquely their own while still remaining a pace one step ahead of themselves and their contemporaries. Rise Of The Elder Ones is an essential work by an exceptional band, and any collection is incomplete without it.
***Originally written for and by www.deathportal.net

The Canadian death and black metal scenes have always caught my ears, the amount of musical atomic energy and roughness there are enough to produce memorable extreme metal releases for the whole world. Necronomicon, the death/black metal band is one of those Canadian bands that produces excessive tyrannical riffs that can feed the whole world. The new album "Rise of the Elder Ones" is the fourth full-length record for the band, and the first release for the band to be released by Season of Mist.

The first thing that caught my attention in this album is the using of atmospheric keyboard sound inside the black/death guitar riffing, which gave the structure of the tracks a very majestic feeling. When you give the album the first listen, a lot of bands will cross your mind, such as Behemoth and Nile, but as the tracks cross your mind couple of times, you'll realize that the band has its own musical identity and its really different than any other band in this genre. The solid rhythmic guitar sound is the main point of strength in this album, and the drumming is collapsing with the guitars to make the sound of the tracks more oppressive, but I cant hide my hate toward the lead guitar sections and the fragile solos that try to be there just to be there.

Anyway, some tracks like "The End of Times" and "Dark Corners of the Earth" show a lot of professional drumming work and excellent bass-lines, the choirs-pad and the orchestral keyboards in the tracks added a huge depth to the record, and this deep dimension is clear in some tracks like "Rise of the Elder Ones" and "Resurrected". The three members have managed to create an ultra demonic yet monstrous sound, and I think they succeeded most of the time, but I still think that the solos and the lead guitar parts weren't good enough to compare the band with some bigger names in this genre. The production and the vocals are grim for the fans of extreme music, the crystal fuzziness and the surrounding harshness of the mastering has really helped to shape the spectacular sound that the band has created in this record.

If you're into the complex riffing of Nile and Behemoth, I recommend this album for you, its also recommended for all the fans of old school death metal and the fans who like to hear orchestral elements within the extreme metal sound. Get your copy of this record right now from Season of Mist and discover the bitter taste of the Canadian black/death poisoned fruit.

Originally written for:
www.jorzine.com

The fourth full length from the Canadian death metal band Necronomicon, “Rise of the Elder Ones,” represents some of the bands’ best work to date and continues their previous work in extreme blackened technical death metal in fine fashion.

While being common throughout the album as a whole, the fact that the majority of the songs present on the first half remain stylistically similar creates a great overall feel for the band. This feature is an overblown sense of blasting-heavy death metal created with thunderous drumming that remains on a near-constant double-bass flavor that is simply devastating, and when matched with the guitar-riffing over-the-top of it all creates a very heavy and damaging sound. Those riffs slightly lean toward a black metal-influence than what would usually grace such a sound, as instead of the relentless and inhuman wall of sound this goes for more technically-laced riffing that’s a lot more open-ended and free-flowing which leads to the band as a whole giving a greater sense of epic-ness and grandeur than what would be expected. That there’s numerous tempo changes and leads throughout this comes from the technicality in this, though this isn’t what would be called a master’s class in riffing in any stretch of the word but more on using alternating chords and patterns to create a useful change in atmosphere that leaves a distinct and impressive creation. The main point that could be considered technical at all would be the soloing which is the obvious point of labeling it as such, but there’s still not a whole lot of what would be called technical death metal here, just bits and pieces to add to the maelstrom.

Aside from the elements mentioned above, the main difference in the two halves of the album are the rather elaborate and ornate keyboard passages thrown into the first half which are completely absent on the second half, leaving the second half to feel as though it’s missing something. While not as grandiose and bombastic as would be expected with typical keyboard-use in metal, they are placed more as atmospheric helpers along select passages that enhance the experience, remaining in the back of the mix but still being audible to determine their placement along the tracks. It’s a helpful tactic to not overshadow the blasting along the way, but the fact that they’re included in the first few songs, even managing a full ambient-like interlude as well, then to completely abandon the tactic makes for a somewhat confusing inclusion as they were used to good effect when it was featured.

Beyond the keyboards, the other main feature is a sense of déjà-vu with the material that seems to be repeated over and over again in the second half, as it’s not stylistically different in terms of instrumentation used but simply features more of the same in terms of the blasting drums, furious lead guitars and spiteful vocals that were present in all the songs previously. This creates the sense of repetition in the music that never quite allows this to reach a higher status than what it could’ve due to the familiar feeling where all the songs start to sound the same after a while. The infuriating part of this is that while tempo might change, the patterns for the drums don’t, so all the hyper-speed passages sound the same and the more melodic parts give off a similar feel as well. Clearly, this is a band comfortable with its sound but the focus should be on allowing for a greater degree of differentiating between tracks that would really boost them in the future for the band knows what they want to sound like, but in the end it’s all pretty evenly-distributed and nothing really sticks out.

The songs here aren’t all that bad and really have a lot going for them once the same-ness is passed over. Opener ‘Resurrected’ features blazing technicality with furious drum-work and those atmospheric keyboards boosting the epic blasting in a charging, high-speed track right out of the gates. Follow-up ‘The End of Times’ contains even more blasting from the drums in a truly punishing display, again being accompanied by atmospheric keyboard tinges that work just as well here and a chaotic section at the end with some solid soloing that’s quite impressive. ‘The Living God (Pharaoh of Gods Part II)’ is a decent enough effort that tries to blast away and gets it right a lot, but is overall too mid-tempo with its pacing to make the destruction lasting and impactful, despite another fine solo, giving way to the keyboard-driven ambient interlude that follows. The full-throttle ‘From Beyond’ is one of the better efforts as the group decides to throw in a quicker pace while easing off the blasting slightly to still create a worthy enough effort that’s destructive enough to work incredibly well with the aggressive vocals and riffing.

The title track’s epic and bombastic intro is perfectly suited as a mild break before letting loose with mid-paced blasting to leave a telling mark. The album’s best track, ‘The Valley of the Lost Souls,’ features furious riffing, a blasting pace and spastic vocals in a hyper-speed charger that’s imminently destructive and memorable before another bombastic drumming-led interlude follows up. The last two tracks are quite enjoyable, with ‘Dark Corners of the Earth’ especially featuring a fantastic ability to interchange between mid-tempo chugging and full-throttle blasting that shows the band is technically-accomplished when they need to be and ferocious enough to put up a decent fight with the heavyweights, and the mid-tempo ‘The Fallen’ stays in pace throughout with little blasting and a return to the epic grandeur of the early tracks, making for a fine closing salvo.

Overall, this is one of the band’s better efforts to date, complete with a nice mixture of hyper-speed blasting and technical riffing that makes for an epic, expansive feel rather than the confined, relentless hammering going on which is to be expected with such a group. While the decision to leave the keyboards off the later tracks that worked well for those in the upper half is quite curious, the main stumbling block with this one is the repetition found in the writing where everything tends to blend into each other quite easily, especially on the later half, where the songs start sounding the same due to the same writing techniques used throughout which really lowers this one quite a bit since there was a lot to like with this one. In the end, this is really more recommended for the completists of the genre and the bands’ fans while more general death metal fans might find some useful moments here.