ALBUM REVIEW: Apotheosis – Necronautical

Since their formation in 2010, NECRONAUTICAL have established themselves as one of the UK’s premier black metal acts. Bringing together some of the most impressive musicians in the North Western extreme metal scene, the band have gone from strength to strength with every subsequent release, securing themselves a record deal with Candlelight Records in the process. Apotheosis, their latest record, is arguably their best outing to date, and sees the band poised to become one of the UK’s biggest black metal acts, and could very well see them leave their mark on the scene worldwide.

All Is Vanity kicks this album off on a high note, with grandiose, atmospheric elements coming to the fore immediately, quickly giving way to a razor sharp and driven slab of dark and melodic black metal. The precise and intricate guitars, authoritative drumming and shrill, bellicose vocals all contribute to the bleak yet fierce approach of the music, proving to be a great, instantly memorable offering which sets the tone for everything that comes afterwards. Nihil Sub Sole Novum, with its epic opening, quickly gives way to a focused and speed driven piece of music with intricate, thunderous drums and tight, vicious guitar hooks with soaring, melodic leads, and topped off with visceral, caustic vocals which add a fierce edge to the more grandiose aspects of the music. With some excellent symphonic flourishes peppered liberally throughout, this is an eclectic and powerful offering with plenty on offer, making it a very early stand out track, and raising the bar significantly for the rest of the music to surpass.

Lure Of The Abyss is a noticeably more ferocious and aggressive track, which makes great use of cleaner tones to create a hypnotic and engrossing feel that draws the listener in and provides an excellent contrast with the denser and more robust side of the bands sound. Adventurous lead guitars and subtle, soaring symphonic elements carry this song at many points, with the vocals adding a thick, guttural roar to the proceedings, making the song as a whole sound all the more massive and imposing. The album’s fourth, titular track has a vast and expansive sound that it’s hard not to get drawn in by straight away, with NECRONAUTICAL scaling back the glorious melodies that have defined the first few songs for a song built around huge chords and sparingly used, yet impressive, clean and acoustic guitar sections which make this song a far more epic and bombastic affair than the first three songs on this record, making for a change of pace that adds plenty more variety to this already diverse record.

Totentanz makes great use of slightly jarring guitar hooks and haunting choirs, building on the atmospheric side of the bands sound and letting that take more of a central role on this particular song, which ultimately makes for a very ethereal and monolithic offering with some imaginative and morose guitar work, backed with solid rhythms and a sonorous and visceral vocal delivery. It’s a good piece of music, and stands as one of the album’s grander moments. Here Begins The Fall, much like the previous song, is a somewhat shorter offering, as far as this record is concerned, and leaves a significant mark on the second half of this record, with some tight and rabid guitars, cacophonous drumming and some of the most primal and vicious vocals on the whole record. it’s got some brilliant, chaotic moments that add a sense of urgency into the music, creating bursts of monstrous, claustrophobic intensity, which are broken up by soaring lead guitar passages and much fuller and open sections, with each extreme of this songs sound giving this song a complementary counterpoint that works really well. The Endless Spiral brings the album to an end in a great way, with a slow burning track that is built around gigantic riffs, pounding percussion and booming vocals, all of which is shrouded in a brilliant atmosphere, and peppered with acoustic guitars, making it one of the album’s stand out tracks in spite of its extended length. The whole song sounds absolutely huge, creating a vast, impenetrable sound that really allows the fantastic guitar melodies and beautiful ambience carry the song, bringing this record to its conclusion on one of its highest notes.

Apotheosis is an incredibly tight and impressive record from start to finish. There’s little, if no, filler on display here, and each of these tracks are stand outs in their own right, with no one track feeling out of place or unnecessary. NECRONAUTICAL have really consolidated and mastered their sound and style, making for a far leaner and more focused offering than their previous two albums, with intricate guitars, brilliant drumming and feral, imposing vocals all making for some fantastic moments on this album. This album showcases a band at their current creative peak, ready to make their mark on the extreme metal scene at large, and stands as possibly one of the better black metal records to come out this year.

Rating: 9/10

Apotheosis is out now via Candlelight Records.

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