ALBUM REVIEW: Necrotic Verses – Death Courier

The story of DEATH COURIER is a lengthy one. Initially forming in 1987 and building a repertoire of harsh, gnarly demos, the band were finally able to release their debut album, Demise, all the way back in 1992. Unfortunately, as is the case with a countless plethora of classic underground acts, the release of their debut ultimately marked the end of their tenure as a band. That is, until 2010, when, after 17 years of dormancy, and with a new, reinvigorated line up, the band returned, reasserting their position within the Greek death metal scene in the process. Necrotic Verses the band’s brilliant third album, comes just over seven years since their second, Perimortem album saw the light of day, and it is, without a shadow of a doubt, their finest hour musically.

Necrotic Verses starts the album off strong, with vicious, thrash inflected death metal with some dense vocals and vicious guitars making for an excellent sound right out of the gate, raising the bar significantly for the rest of the record. Mourning Ecstasy is a short, sharp shock of razor sharp guitars, punishing, precise drums and monstrous vocals, which leaves a strong impression on the album and its sound, in spite of its fleeting running time. As Heaven Blends with Rot sees a more prominent, bubbling bass sound rise in the mix, with the music taking a more mid-tempo, groove orientated approach that works extremely well, giving the music a larger, fuller feel. When Death Fits to Skin carries the previous track sound forward, with slower, but weightier, guitars and drums giving this track a powerful edge immediately, with tight melodies and caustic percussion providing some memorable, feral moments that give this particular song a more varied and immersive sound than the three that preceded it.

Interlude is another brief, but incredibly effective, offering that takes the album down a much different, atmospheric route, with sparse, haunting guitars blending with a heady ambience to make the perfect pallet cleanser before the death metal onslaught resumes with the fantastic Pillars of Murk, which again adds plenty of depth to the album overall, with hazier, more hypnotic guitars and authoritative drum hooks allowing for a more expansive sound and an engrossing listen.

Morsimon Imar pulls the record back towards the fast, frenzied style that dominated the early parts of this album, with focused thrash hooks giving this song a solid backbone around which juggernaut drums, savage, sludgy vocals and crushing leads are built, resulting in one of the high watermarks of the album. Immune to Burial is very much more of the same, with some magnificent leads, chaotic drumming and bellicose vocal deliveries combining to create a full throttle aural assault that it’s very hard not to love.

Visceral Slice, with its huge, guitars riffs, slick bass lines and tight drumming, is one of the more visceral tracks on the whole album, with the ferocious roar of the vocals adding a thicker and more rabid edge to the music which makes it all the more catchy and memorable. Remnants proves to be the most eclectic and imaginative sound on the album, with a variety of guitar playing styles and a wider range of tempo changes courtesy of the drums making for an interesting and diverse sound with a great, epic side to it, providing a great, climactic feel and bringing the album to a close on one of its highest notes.

This really is an album that showcases a band perfecting their sound and cementing their place within the wider death metal scene. The music itself is firmly rooted in a classic death and thrash metal sound, giving it a brilliant, timeless edge, whilst injecting a polished, modern aspect to the overall sound without sacrificing any of the murk and dirt that makes this style of death metal sound so impressive. If nothing else, this album will be regarded as one of the best outings DEATH COURIER has produced to date, and places this excellent band up amongst the upper echelons of Greece’s already fantastic extreme metal elites.

Rating: 8/10

Necrotic Verses is out now via Transcending Obscurity Records.

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