Phylogenesis

I was really sceptical after the lukewarm "Draculea". This spawn of mediocrity had been like a weak animal that could not rise and stand upon its legs. The question was whether Necrodeath would be able to regain its former strength. The seventh album of the Italians quickly delivered the answer. The band returned to its well-proven style of thrash metal. This was the best thing they could do. Already the first guitar tones of the opener appeared as a course correction. And this was no misperception. Due to its focus on ferocity, the straightforward opener turned out to be a splendid thrash jewel. "Awakening of Dawn" with its howling guitars during the solos was exactly this kind of rude awakening that every true disciple of the genre appreciates. But the band had more exciting ideas up its sleeve.

"Phylogenesis" scored with fairly sophisticated song structures. At the same time, the reckless Italians did not fail to roll out the heavy artillery of thrash metal. Because of this situation, the album was much more powerful than its predecessor without suffering from an overdose of complexity. Violent sections were skillfully combined with comparatively emotional parts in order to generate a dynamic overall impression. This strategy worked. In view of the energizing effect of this hearing experience, it seemed like the band members had found a fountain of youth in their neighbourhood. Their joy of making music was almost tangible.

The song material benefitted from the vigorous production. It did not lack of pressure so that all the well established features of the group´s specific sound were presented in a very good way: edgy riffs, atmospheric guitar melodies, percussive elements as well as furiously maltreated drums and, occasionally, heavy bass lines. The profound performance of the instrumentalists was crowned by the insanity of lead vocalist Flegias. As almost always, his nagging and screaming had this cynical undertone that gave his singing the special touch. To put it in a nutshell, the expressive performance of Flegias was simply perfect. For all these reasons, it came as no surprise that more than half of the pieces struck the listener like a lightning bolt. In addition to the above-mentioned opener, outstanding tunes like "The Theory" with its catchy chorus or the ultra-malicious "Extreme Emotional Shock" left no questions unanswered. On the one hand, the tracks were thoroughly designed and did not skimp on explosive breaks. On the other hand, they possessed a fantastic flow. The same was true for the long yet highly entertaining "Propitiation of the Gods". Inter alia, its memorable guitar lines and the accusatory melody of the chorus showed the enormous creative abilities of the reinvigorated Italians. To make it more precise, drummer and founding member Peso had to bear the brunt of the songwriting process. This distribution of roles is rather unusual, but the result spoke for itself. The entire full-length was not lacking in conceptual depth and left its trace due to its cruel refinement.

If you are normally only interested in thrash albums that blindly follow the dogma of high velocity, "Phylogenesis" will probably give you a tough nut to crack. But if you are ready to go for new horizons, Necrodeath will make your day. While avoiding any compositional letdown, the four guys created a highly varied album with a more or less extraordinary lyrical content. Congratulations to your taste if you like this full-length.

phy - lo - gen - e - sis: the development or evolution of a particular group of organisms.

Necrodeath have always been one of the top two Italian thrash bands (the other being Bulldozer), and their 8th album Phylogenesis is ample evidence of why. Energetic, cruel thrash metal that simply drips with malevolence. Rarely technical, unless it needs to be, this is another scorcher, fueled by Flegias' intense vocals which are similar but even more snappy and pissed than Mille of Kreator.

"Awakening of Dawn" explodes out of the speakers with a fervor and madness that will appeal to any fan of the band's breakthrough reunion albums Mater of All Evil and Black as Pitch. It's a fast track, as are many of the stronger numbers. "Propitiation of the Gods" starts with some nice, creepy acoustic melodies but gains strength as it picks up speed . "Cloned World" is anchored by a bizarre, chaos inducing, loopy melodic riff. But the album also has some stronger, slower songs like the ill-tempered "Extreme Emotional Condition" and the grim, bottom feeding "Persuasive Memory".

Phylogenesis has a tight mix that supplies ample, alternate tones of hostility and wonder. Flegias sounds phenomenal whether doing his barks and snears or his more 'narrative' guttural vocals, hostile whispers, etc. The riffs have a bloodthirsty cruelty to them which should appeal to fans of Slayer, old Exodus, etc, but if you're already a Necrodeath fan you know this already. This isn't the band's best album (for that, you'd want the aforementioned Mater of All Evil or Black As Pitch or their 80s classics like Into the Macabre) but it's concrete and consistent.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

This is a real surprise. I would have never, ever expected such a return. We left Necrodeath with the shabby, overlong and lame Draculea and at that point I became worried about the future of a band that so far had put out good efforts, if we don’t count Ton(e)s of Hate, in other words “the originator” of this evolution. Maybe just 100% Hell represented an exception because it was not bad, at all. However, when I heard about this Phylogenesis I immediately thought: “Please, do not come back with another Draculea!” And guess what…they obeyed!

Phylogenesis is a truly violent album and it contains all the styles Necrodeath have “acquired” along their career. The violence of the comeback albums (Mater of All Evil, Black as Pitch) with some influences from the more recent stuff are the ingredients for this new album, the eighth one in their long career. To make you forget completely about the boredom Draculea was able to offer to you, we find the frontal assault of “Awakening of Dawn” and its blast beats. The riffs invade the song and the more mid-paced breaks are very good for the general atmosphere, being something really obscure and evil. The guitar by Pier Gonnella is creative and it features various styles, passing through more experimental moments to suddenly explode into sheer attacks.

Everything is mixed in a perfect way as Flegias, with his scream, brings in the most extreme side of Necrodeath, the black oriented one. The riffs on this new effort are constantly influenced by thrash metal and often you can hear clear influences from modern Destruction, also because the production is pounding and truly clear. “I.N.R.I.” features higher dosages of groove but it’s good because it’s always dark and really heavy. The arpeggios overtures are a classic trademark for Necrodeath as the outburst of “The Theory” confirms my sentence in which I talked about the pure thrash metal influences. The up tempo is more present and it comes along a great refrain, without forgetting the very good lines when the mid-pace is required in order to give that really dark touch to this song.

The atmospheric moments of “Extreme Emotional Shock” go back to Draculea but when the electric guitars enter, we can also clearly hear influences from Mater of All Evil. The progression is basically a mid-paced one but the riffs are always present and the variety of styles keeps the attention at high levels and the overall catchiness is a thing to remark. “Time Never Dies” is here to increase the level of violence and speed even if a few dissonant riffs represent the unbreakable link with the more recent efforts. Going on, we must remark the excellent, schizophrenic guitar work of “Propitiation of the Gods” that easily passes through death/thrash riffs, slow arpeggios and strange clean parts. “Cloned World” is another more in-your-face track and even here the riffage is very good and truly creative.

“Persuasive Memory” is a doomy track, full of growls and screams. The instruments are slow and the groove comes out from the riffs, filling the air with a grotesque touch. The final, long “Final War” shows a perfect mix of styles and so it must be due to its length. The variety of the structures is a sign of maturity, as the technique and the precision come immediately after. What really astonished me here is the guitars work because it’s always various, relentless and truly heavy but in general, all the members came back to very good levels of songwriting. The approach of this album is more direct but also more mature. Welcome back, Necrodeath.