Total Fuckin' Necro: Demos 2007

'Total Fucking Necro' is a collection of previous demos from one man raw black metal band 'Necro Cult'. It's the first album from Nokturnal Transmissions Records and brought them off to a pretty good start.

Lone member Nocturous handles everything, and it's clear that all the music here is the product of one man's vision. The focus seems to be less on songwriting and more on aesthetic, the content here is intentionally overdriven and distorted to the point of blurring out a lot of the melody lines, not that the melody is really that important. The production is inconsistant due to all of the tracks coming from various demos, but even the tracks that come from the same demo seem to have either been recorded at a different time or intentionally recorded differently. The focus is obviously on the atmosphere, and similarly to Wold (although not nearly as harsh) the riffs aren't recognisable for a lot of the time. It isn't totally amelodic though, which is where the charms comes from, as the music often dips from easily distinguishable melodies to raw distortion mid song. It's noisy without being noise you see, and it's a winning combination.

Only the guitars are really so highly distorted, as the vocals seem quite cleanly recorded, you can even make out a lot of words that Nocturous cackles over everything. The drums are recorded cleanly too although they're mixed poorly (probably intentionally) and tend to disappear from the sound space from time to time as they're over taken by the strong wash of guitar sound. The songwriting is capably done, typical black metal structures with 2-4 riffs per song that don't really stray outside of the usual black metal formula.

This is a good representation of the real raw black metal underground, and the people that think that bands like Necro Cult are an exception don't realise that there are entire shows, labels, scenes dedicated to this sort of music, and although this isn't really as low as Zarach'Baal'Tharagh or Heirdrain on that DIY level this certainly isn't very pretty music and isn't recommended to people who don't delve much further underground than Mayhem and Burzum. This is for raw black metal fans only, and if you like this you'll probably like it more for the aesthetic than the songwriting itself. Not for everybody, you should know if this is for you and if you do then buy it, it's well recommended.

Here we have a collection of, as you should have guessed by the title, the demos released in 2007 by black metal/noise monger Necro Cult. This is for seasoned veterans only, and is a painful, but enjoyable enough listen.

This is black metal of the noisiest kind. The production is lacking in bass, giving everything a very static-y sound in the traditional black metal sense. What really sounds out, however, are the hateful vocals. His shrieks are truly ear splitting. The guitars, when not buried under heaps of static, range from good standard black metal riffing to mediocre riffs that don’t sound very well thought out. The biggest problem I have with this disc is the drums. They are virtually non-existent. I can hear faint drumming on some tracks under the heaps of static, but on others, I can’t tell if there is any percussion whatsoever. Given the style of music, this was definitely on purpose, but it still gets on my nerves after a while. When I CAN hear the drums, the musicianship sounds loose, but not overly-sloppy. Technical precision was the LAST thing on Nocturous’s mind.

All in all, this is black metal in its purest (and noisiest) form. It reeks of hate for all things, living and dead. It is the opposite of everything mainstream, and is very refreshing. This is not for casual listening. But it IS good when you’re in the right mood. Any fan of raw underground BM should give this disc a spin.

Not for untrained ears.

“What the fuck is this?” is probably going to be any person’s reaction when listening to Necro Cult. As the songs continue to play, one of two distinct opinions are going to be formed. The first, and most likely reaction is going to be “this is noise, turn it off, it sucks”. The second reaction, which you’re not going to hear very often, is “wow this is awesome!”. Now this is a compilation of all Necro Cult’s previous outputs, so I’m going to try and split this review up a bit, as it would be ridiculous to take this in as something of a full-length album, and it’s an attempt to give a short summary of the individual Necro Cult releases. The compilation as a whole will be mentioned after.

Of the six releases (!) that “Total Fuckin’ Necro: Demos 2007” comprises, we’re first treated to the “Total Fucking Necro” demo. The sound is very thin, drums barely audible, and the vocals are way too high. In fact, so high and so distorted that they drown out everything else in certain segments. The demo is awash with noise (as the rest of the Necro Cult material is), and this is generally the point that people are split over. Is it just random shit, or is it plain fucking awesome? Well, my personal opinion on its effect on this demo is split. Quite simply, it does nothing to add or take from the overall sound. When the riffing comes through, it’s pretty indistinct, so it blurs the bad shit, but it just doesn’t really fit in. Five out of ten for “Total Fucking Necro”.

Next up is the “Utter Darkness” demo. I must say, much better, the sound isn’t as thin, the vocals are better (instead of AAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH DISTORTION!), and it generally sounds cooler. “Utter Darkness” has what is probably the most clear sounding track on this compilation, “Absolute Hate”. The riffing still isn’t in this demo though. It’s black metal, and nothing more. It’s not so much bad, but it’s generic and boring. Blasting, fast, it’s like a noisy “Blizzard Beasts” (an Immortal album for the uninitiated), without the frostbitten “winteriness” of course. The exception is a slow bit in “Utter Darkness”, which slays. Audible drums as well! Six out of ten this time around.
Getting better Nocturous…

Oh yeah, “Chaotic Black Fuckin’ Metal”. This demo is just great. Think Carpathian Forest and Sadistik Exekution chucked into a bag full of noise. When you take out the result of your concoction, you get “Chaotic Black Fuckin’ Metal”. Even when it’s just blasting along like the first two demos, it just sounds so much better. It feels like it’s rocking, yet it’s not. It’s chaotic, it’s black metal, and it’s probably fucking as well. This is the best stuff yet, nine out of ten, or to make that sound more impressive, ninety out of one hundred! Grimness!

“Ultimate Death” is like “Chaotic Black Fuckin’ Metal”, minus the chaos. It seems more coherent than previous demos. The most accessible Necro Cult material available, though if you don’t like ear rape, you’d still stay away from it. The “rocking” feel is still there in certain sections, though not as present as it was on previous demos. In particular, “For the Glory of Satan” sounds like an improvised Carpathian Forest outtake and “Unholy Cult” sounds like Necro Cult’s version of Sodom. Down to a seven, just doesn’t feel as good as “CNFM”.

The “Revolt” demo consists of very fuzzy, thin guitars while the vocals take a backdrop. It’s fast, but it’s not as insane as the other material. It’s similar to much of the black metal coming out nowadays, just with a very noisy Necro Cult twist. The title track is pretty cool, but otherwise it’s standard stuff, just a bit noisier. Back down to a five for “Revolt”.

The final two tracks are taken from Necro Cult’s split with Kroatoan, another U.S black metal band. Some cool riffage on both tracks and “Nekro Slut” even has a sample! The songs from the split are the best Necro Cult stuff other than the “Chaotic Black Fuckin’ Metal” demo. A fine way to finish off the split, eight out of ten.

Now, that is how this release shapes up when taken as separate demos, but what if you want to listen to the whole thing in one go? Well, “Total Fuckin’ Necro: Demos 2007” will test your patience. While individual demos may be really cool, the style gets grating after 66 minutes of it. If Necro Cult ever makes a full-length album, it better not be more than 30 minutes long. There’s not a huge difference demo to demo, so it’s likely that you’ll loose interest while listening to it. When you loose interest, you won’t hear any of the great bits, and just hear two things; black metal and noise. Not to say it’s a bad listen, but it’s boring when taken as a whole. Necro Cult is great when you just listen to one or two demos, but 66 minutes of it? No thanks.

“Total Fuckin’ Necro: Demos 2007” is a good document of the band’s material thus far. The band and Nocturnal Transmission Records should be commended for releasing this for the metal community. I dare say I’m going to be spinning some of the material on here for quite a while to come. Enjoy or suffer, it’s an interesting listen and even if you hate it, you will take something from this release. To sum it up, fucking CHAOS.