ALBUM REVIEW: In Extremis – Necrogod
From the twisted minds of The Master Butcher of MORBID STENCH and Rogga Johansson, Sweden’s most prolific purveyor of pulverizing putrescence, comes the debut album of NECROGOD, titled In Extremis. Given the combined weights of the duo’s considerable past projects, it would be fair to say that a collaboration between the two would carry some rather large expectations. But will it be able to escape the long shadows cast by the pair’s individual pasts?
From the outset, it’s clear there was never anything to worry about. Bringers Of Blasphemy kicks things off with an immediate dirty slab of a riff with monolithic tone, squealing harmonics, spine-buckling groove and thoroughly rank atmosphere, standard Rogga Johansson fare then. The Master Butcher’s raspy vocals are a fine fit too, feeling like the drawn out death rattle of a shambling corpse animated by some infernal force. A pustulent bass outro gives way to In Mortal Confinement, which feels quite akin to some of the faster HOODED MENACE moments. It’s not going to set the world alight with its relentless technicality, but it’s primal, straightforward and gets the job done, the audible equivalent of a crowbar to the brain case. Wonderful stuff.
This devastating gut punch is followed by The Brutal Path (Straight To Hell), which is faster and more pulverising but still nicely tied together by that chilling, howl-from-the-grave vocal approach going on, to the point where it would be forgivable to assume if The Master Butcher is actually in the latter stages of putrefaction. Towards the end, if you close your eyes while listening you can pretty much see the circle pits already. This is one of those classic death metal moments that you just know is going to whip up a churning mass of longhairs when performed live. The same can be said for thunderous stomp of Remain The Same Again, which will undoubtedly cause a stirring in even the most rigid of necks.
Turning to the album’s midriff, we find that Johannsson and The Master Butcher can really take the leash off. Fast, aggressive and crusty, The Obsessive And The Deranged is a track that grabs you by the throat and refuses to let go. Butcher goes for a throatier bark on this one, sounding like a protracted, gurgling death rattle of someone kicking their last seconds away at the end of a noose. Brutal, sharp and punchy. You’ll find no complaints here. In The Reign Of Gore will melt the flesh from your bones. A full-fledged, white hot rager, the combination of machine-gun riffage and commanding drum work is finely balanced here. Everything Johansson turns his hand to is absolute savage fun and this is no exception. It even slows right down for the outro with a masterful blend of tense drum work and riffs as weighty as a dying star.
With When Madness Takes Control the intensity is dropped in favour of more grotesque melody. Despite his obvious love for raging, blood-soaked heaviness, Johansson clearly is also a talented and focused songwriter and musician and this just shows it off further. Crashing back into the standard death metal world with Moribund, we find all the hallmarks that have made In Extremis so enjoyable so far, big dirty riffs, screaming solos and a wellspring of torturous brutality that never stops churning, a particular highlight being the massive, juddering stop/start riff that we see in the closing moments.
Monolithic closer Transcending To Persist comes in slow then charges off with a melody-rimed stew of thick, revolting power chords. As the feedback from this fairly restrained outro fades out, you can’t help but feel satisfied. Johansson and The Master Butcher have made for an evocative and gore-soaked collaboration, one which may not be reinventing the wheel, but it’s certainly an absolute slammer of a Sweden-meets-America crossover which takes nuggets from both sides of the Atlantic and stitches them together to make a human suit of massive, filth encrusted riffs, a pummelling rhythm section and howling, murderous vocals to make a feculent, repulsive and incredibly fun slice of death metal delirium.
Rating: 8/10
In Extremis is out now via Transcending Obscurity Records.
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