ALBUM REVIEW: Black Blood Aggression – Necromutilator

Italy’s NECROMUTILATOR are a band that pedal a fast, vicious and unpretentious form of blackened thrash, and takes its musical cues from the likes of VENOM, SARCOFAGO and early SODOM. Over the last decade, NECROMUTILATOR have made a small but impressive name for themselves, with their 2017 EP, Ripping Blasphemy, finally gaining them some notable recognition outside of their homeland. Their latest, second full length, Black Blood Aggression, comes close to five years since the release of their debut record, and manages to further refine and improve on their already fantastic sound to make what is arguably their best record to date.

NECROMUTILATOR start things off with Armoured Antichrist, opening with a great soundbite that really sets the tone for the music, and injects a little of the atmosphere of old Hammer Horror movies into proceedings. When the music proper begins, the listener is treated to some really vicious, powerful blackened thrash, with some great, groove-laden guitar hooks, thunderous drumming and sludgy, bellicose vocals that all set a high benchmark right out of the gate. The balance between the black and thrash elements is done very well, with some of thrash’s speed and precision informing a sepulchral and dark form of black metal musicianship. Following, Serve The Impurity is, if anything, more feral and forceful. The music is far more chaotic, without losing any of the tightness in the sound, with the guitars shifting from dense chords to a flurry of sharp and expertly played cacophony, creating a great sound that it’s hard not to love. It’s a far shorter track, and acts as a short, sharp shock of fierce riffs, scatter brained drumming and acidic snarling, and doesn’t stick around any longer than it needs to.

Nocturnal Messiah continues in the same vein, bursting out of the speakers at a blistering pace as a sea of caustic guitar hooks, tumultuous yet precise drums, and some gnarly, tar thick vocals that sounds brilliant. The thrash elements really come to the fore on this track, with a few tremolo picked lead melodies peppering this song with blackened flourishes throughout. Putrefaction Rites is a mid paced, robust piece of music with excellent, powerful guitars, steady, authoritative drumming and deep, visceral vocals that sounds truly monolithic all the way through. It doesn’t have to really too much on fast and furious parts, although they are certainly present here, and this allows for every aspect of the sound to really come to the forefront of the sound instead of drowning in a wave of dizzying, distorted noise. It’s a great change of pace that helps to add some depth to the bands sound and show that NECROMUTILATOR don’t need to rely on speed to make a song sound great.

Crypts Of Depravation, opening with another soundbite, which again sets the tone nicely for the music; this song is a relatively funeral dirge compared to many of the others that came before it, with slow, droning chords, booming gutturals and reserved, almost hypnotic drumming patterns dominating the sound. The pace quickens as the song progresses, but never to the degree of some of the songs that feature earlier and later on the record. It’s a bleak, slow burning track that gradually builds to a heady, vicious slab of macabre black metal, and proves to be one of the most atmospheric songs on the album. Blessed In Hellvomit is a fleeting aural assault. The drumming on this track is perhaps some of the most intricate and impressive on the whole album, with the guitars and vocals providing a grating, bombastic edge which works incredibly well to make this song sound as fierce as it can be. It may only be short, but it definitely leaves a mark on Black Blood Aggression as a whole.

Goat Eyes Hypnosis is a great, speed driven offering dripping with venom and intensity. The drums set a chaotic pace, with the buzz saw guitars and throaty, rabid vocals following suit, with the music not losing any of its ferocity throughout. The guitars in particular sound brilliant, with some thick, grating rhythmic hooks providing much of the aggression in the track, and a great, dizzying guitar solo, which adds a sense of urgency and power into the proceedings. It’s a dense, raw and bestial piece of music that proves to be one of the record’s stand out tracks. Black Mayhemic Torment makes for another fast and furious piece of musical rage, with the guitars possessing more aggression and urgency, with the bass adding a thick, crunching aspect to the sound, with the drums backing them up with a machine gun like metre, blasting through the mix and making this song sound all the more gargantuan as a result. The vocals, likewise, are far more driven and venomous, imbued with an emotive power that has mostly been lacking up until this point. It’s a ferocious high for the band and, as far as intensity goes, this song can’t be topped.

Chainsaw Sacrament is a solid, dirty sounding song that sounds, at various points, almost like a Crust Punk song, with tight, punishing drums and energetic guitars making this feel more like a SKITSYSTEM song than a straight forward black metal track. The vocals provide the key difference, adding a feral snarl to the proceedings, allowing this song to remain anchored in extreme metal. It’s a great, impressive change in the sound that really works, and helps to grab the listeners attention once more at this late point in the record. Cold Sperm Of Sathanas is one last burst of ferocity and darkness, characterised by dense, unrelenting drumming, thick, groove inflected guitars and sludgy, dirty sounding vocals. Shifting between bombastic, mid tempo riffs and far fast fare, it’s an eclectic yet monstrous sounding piece of music that consolidates everything great about this bands sound, from the gnarly thrashy hooks to the precise and caustic black metal edge. It’s a great, sprawling piece of music with a great, palpable atmosphere that brings this album to a close on a high note.

With Black Blood Aggression, NECROMUTILATOR have delivered a really good album from start to finish. Whereas many blackened thrash bands utilise a formula of taking a generic thrash riff and applying a black metal tone to it, NECROMUTILATOR do a great job of bucking that trend and actually balancing the black and thrash elements in their sound, allowing the speed and aggression of thrash to inform the sepulchral and rabid motifs of black metal, to great effect, without either fully dominating their sound. It’s got a great production too, raw enough to lure in old school extreme metal fans, but still possessing the right amount of polish to make finer points of the music stand out and be heard. It’s a definite improvement on Eucharistic Mutilations, with the musicianship being much leaner and more focused, easily being their best record to date. With any luck, we won’t have to wait another five years for a new record, especially if it is as exemplary as this.

Rating: 9/10

Black Blood Aggression is out now via Terror From Hell Records. 

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