The Nocturnal Silence

If you are a metal fan for more than a year, you know this feeling of looking up one of those cult classics from the past and feeling absolutely nothing for it. But hey, that's life, not everything is for everybody. Like Sigfried did in one of those feisty Wagner operas, I aim to smash the spear of an old god now. It should have been a simple love story. An atmospheric black/death metal album from the early nineties of Sweden on one side and my easy to impress boyish nature on the other. The scene praises this record with one big voice in unison, the band itself never sold out and the essence of the style itself is hard to mess up. Let's give this a high score and move on, shall we?

No, we absolutely shall the fuck not. Holy christ on a dildo swing, I tried so hard. But after many spins and countless evaluations, this album still pisses me off in a huge way. The melodies of Necrophobic never wander very far up und down the scales and they don't make do with the one way street they got. Let me start with pointing out that the riffing has a certain punk and thrash infused easyness about it that does not work with the intended occult and evil atmosphere. Dissection owned every castle in the realm and Necrophobic were begging at the gates for a piece of bread. This album feels tiny. Grandeur and majesty are simply not present. And it's not some tasty underground smell of subcultural valor either. Sometimes you just get a very simple open c chord without some nice lead juwelery on top and I always ask myself: is that actually it? While it works for other bands and albums, "The Nocturnal Silence" feels unfinished and improvised in a very bad way for me. There is nothing behind it, just a hand that struck a guitar and hoped for the best.

When compared to other records of the time, this album really falls short and flat on its face. Can you imagine that Pure Holocaust was released around the same time and unleashed a viscious blizzard of brutality upon the world while this stupid little thing by Necrophobic was bouncing around like a toddler without teeth or brains? I know that it is not always fair to compare one band to another, but in this case I just have to do it. Every threshold of urgent cinematic violence that Necrophobic wanted to cross with this record has already been conquered by Bathory, Morbid Angel and even Slayer long before. The used thrash rounds or empty mid tempo beats of Necrophobic are standard as hell and produced without any real gritty low end punch that makes you go: "Hey! Nice! Gimme more please." I hate drumming that just happens like traffic. Things move by and you just don't care.

Late to the game and not even aware of it. "The Nocturnal Silence" was hopelessly behind everything and it bores me to death with its thin and slow ways of imitated rebellion. This sounds to me like a second rate cover band without a real vision, only praised because it is old and around long enough for some sort of unearned cult laurels. The riffs are not very brutal or engaging and represent the mediocre standard of the time, the drums with their weak plastic sound and mid range speed do not offer real barbaric beatings and the screams are many steps below the real performances of better wolves and harpies in the neighborhood.

Like I already said, Necrophobic used a lot of of worn out thrash riffs from the eigthies without captivating their sense of sharp urgency but they also failed to walz successfuly into the area of dirty death metal zones, leaving the album in an imbalanced state of faulty expression. It's a very clean and simple affair but not to be confused with any kind of purity. The drum parts do actually feel like a step back when compared to their influence. Dave Lombardo would get the shit kicked out of him if he dared to perform with this absence of swag. I always return to this point because Necrophobic hammer it into my head with absolute certainty: this record is not evil or passionate. The vocals are loud, angry and wide, but they still sound like the unbeloved little cousin of the throaty emperors of Sacramentum or Dissection. Like everything else, the screams imitate safely without setting shit on fire. I want this record to burn me and it never does. Fuck off.

I am sorry, but for a record that rode out to talk about death, darkness and morbid satanic evaluations, this shit just sounds incredibly LAME to me. I could not find a real single moment of compository greatness or biting fury on this album. It just passes me by like a train in the distance. You don't have to be technical as a death/black metal band but it's always obvious when you keep things simple out of necessity, not because you want to but because you can't do it any other way. Darkthrone offered sharp minimalism because it was their will and their pleasure and their passion, Necrophobic on the other hand kept things simple because they lacked options. And I can smell it on them. I can fucking smell it.

In the end, it has to be my fault. Maybe I overlooked something profound and weighty that others found long ago, but I have never discovered the magic and the passion that this record is famed for. I don't like it, I am not moved by it and I don't want to own it. I even hate that lazy cover artwork. Pass.

When you hear the name "Necrophobic", a lot of things come to mind. Being a Swedish black/death metal band, they do lean more towards the melodic side of these genres when compared to other blackened death metal bands like Belphegor. But that would happen later in their careers. In 1993, their style of music was more harsher when compared to their later discography, and this is especially the case for their debut album "The Nocturnal Silence". While it is a bit melodic, it is still a crushing record regardless.

Let's start off with the instrumentals. The opening track "Awakening..." begins with some bell synths playing a cold, yet melodic tune before it cuts straight to the main instrumentals. The guitars are very raw and harsh in sound, but there is a bit of melody in the composition. The riffs are basically what Dissection would sound like if they were less melodic and more extreme. The drums are also just as unforgiving, as Joakim Sterner beats his drums very hardly, which adds in some might in this freezing atmosphere. The bass, while mainly quiet in the overall mix, does hold up the foundation pretty decently, but overall has an okay bass playthrough. This is all combined to create a mix of melody and harshness in the sound, which is executed really well. You also got tracks like "Unholy Prophecies" and "Sacrificial Rites" that do lean more towards the death metal influences, but there is still a touch of black metal elements in there that add in more of a raw sound. But "The Nocturnal Silence" is easily my favorite track in this album, as it mixes the black metal and death metal elements perfectly. From melodic riffs to pounding blastbeats, these instruments mix both of these styles really well, and include some of Necrophobic's best instrumental moments.

The vocals are also just as powerful. Anders Strokirk does the lead vocals while Tobbe Sidegård does the backing vocals, and both of them have some great vocal performances. Anders mixes growls and shrieks in his vocals, whereas Tobbe utilizes more extreme shrieks and growls, and both of them execute this sound really well. This is especially the case in the track "Inborn Evil", which is another track that leans more towards death metal. The mix of shrieks and growls add in more power into the instruments, as Anders's raging personality is fitting to the chaotic atmosphere. Tobbe is also just as good, as his background shrieks only further add to that hateful personality of Anders. There are some slight hiccups in their voices, but otherwise, their vocal performances are really strong and flow through the instrumentals well.

Even the lyrics are great. The lyrical themes mainly deal with anti-Christianity, and while a lot of similar-themed metal albums at that time were admittedly a bit cheesy with their lyrics, Necrophobic shows that they mean business with this stuff. Take the lyrics to "Father of Creation" for example, where this verse quotes:

Entering the kingdom above
To destroy the empire of God
With the vision of father Satan
"See the flowing blood"
For God shall be crucified
And heaven shall be no more
With the crown of thorns BURN
Into the fires of pure blasphemy

Here, Anders shrieks about going into heaven to kill God. The journey is described in an epic tone that makes it sound more grand, and when he eventually gets around to crucifying God, it's done in a victorious way where you can't help but cheer for him, which is effective in its anti-religion message. Not only that, but it also goes hand-to-hand with the instrumentals and vocals. The black/death metal instruments make the story sound more fierce, and the jarring screams of Micke Jansson near the end of the track make the character sound more insane and crazy. The lyrics are effective with its anti-Christianity messages, and the instruments and vocals match them well.

Being that this is their debut album, Necrophobic clearly started their black/death metal journey on a high note. The instrumentals, despite leaning more towards death metal overall, still executes its abrasive sound well. The vocals are also anxious and maddening in execution, and the songwriting is strong and executes its blasphemous nature well. Necrophobic would go on to release more albums, which got a bit more melodic, but "The Nocturnal Silence" easily remains their most brutal release. I highly recommend this album to those who are in the mood for a blasphemous night.

By 1993 Swedish death metal was something truly to behold. Characterized by massive downtuned guitars, shouted death roars and influenced by D-beat, this style of death metal had become a well-known phenomenal. Necrophobic were a bit late to the party, but their present was nonetheless welcome, even if it wasn’t the most-something kind of present.

The Nocturnal Silence is not the fastest, heaviest or most evil offering – but it does feature a healthy balance of such aspects. Guitar tones carry enough weight to make each riff stand out, even if they’re not extremely downtuned, while harsh vocals avoid the ‘’demonic noise so hard to hear’’ approach. If The Exorcist didn’t need a demonic being that was all incoherent, why would this album need one? Sometimes less is really more: Anders Strokirk sounds gruff, yet his coherent rasp makes me convinced he’s not much of a Jesus fanatic.

Necrophobic never drifted far away from the blasphemous noise they crafted early on, yet it was guitarist David Parland who was responsible for the most brilliant offering of the band. His style is rather unique; downpicked thrash-inspired mayhem, grinding mid-paced churning and rapid tremolos are all part of his repertoire. Clearly, The Nocturnal Silence is a riff-driven album, but it’s not a ‘’riffs for riffs sake’’ album. The nine compositions all have their fair share of tempo changes, yet every chapter of this tale makes perfect sense – be it the rapid-fire onslaught of ‘’Sacrificial Rites’’ or the masterful crafted ‘’The Ancient Gate’’. There are also a few unexpected tricks working well in the band’s favor, such as freezing black metal-esque opening segment of ‘’Awakening…’’ or the unexpected striking tremolo motif at 3:30 (a short tribute to Altars of Madness perhaps?) unleashed on ‘’Inborn Evil’’.

While most old school death metal albums aren’t too versatile, The Nocturnal Silence is versatile enough considering the style. I’d argue that the first six compositions are the most nuanced here - the calculated, yet surprising approach Necrophobic aimed for should ease the listener with a vague sense of what to expect once this album goes into action. The last three compositions sees the band zooming in on aspects you could briefly experience earlier thorough the album. The aforementioned ‘’Sacrificial Rites’’ explodes into high gear straight away, whereas ‘’Father of Creation’’ slowly unfolds into something grand and ‘’Where Sinners Burn’’ features the band at their most restrained and melodic. But don’t be fooled! The only overly melodic themes present here appear through sinister, yet classy solos that counter the gruff riffing, yet you would never call this record a melodic death metal record - the amount of grit present here should remind you that The Nocturnal Silence is still a death metal album at its core.

Easily up there with the actual Swedish sounding death metal efforts, The Nocturnal Silence is certainly is one of Sweden’s best death metal albums of all time. While Necrophobic have always followed the dark path, this is easily the band at their darkest and most majestic. Absolutely essential.

Broadly speaking the origins of American death metal lie in thrash, and the origins of Scandinavian death metal lie in a blend of d-beat and NWOBHM. Whilst it pleases me that this fits so well, there can be a danger in placing too much emphasis on the importance of regional sounds in the develop of the style. But there’s no doubt that in the pre-internet age it played a huge part in shaping the music.

Stockholm’s Necrophobic are one of those missing link acts between death and black metal, striving for a darker aesthetic than their countrymen, but ending up with what is essentially ‘evil’ death metal. Whilst Dismember and Entombed poached the riffs of Autopsy and gave them a d-beat sheen and some melodic sensibilities, Necrophobic revamped early Slayer with a neoclassical flourish. In many ways their debut LP ‘The Nocturnal Silence’ (1993) is the true genesis of melodic death metal. It may be darker than ‘Heartwork’ or ‘Slaughter of the Soul’, but Necrophobic’s ear for catchy hooks shines through even within some pretty sophisticated narrative structures.

The basis of this music is fairly basic thrash. The guitar tone is razor sharp and clear, drums are competent but unremarkable, vocals would be at home on a black or death metal record. But atop this simple framework is an unfolding tour of creative and playful riffs and leads that breathe life and class into this otherwise familiar foundation. They adeptly build tension around each track that leads to a climax which offers a conclusion to one section and signposting to the next.

Knitted into this compositional technique is their use of dynamics, which was an underused potential within death metal at the time. They use them sparingly but effectively, adeptly contrasting it with the chaos and nihilism of the atonal thrash passages. The whole album exudes a cavernous atmosphere to it. This is achieved not just through creating spaces between the riffs or simple layering of reverb, but by building tremolo strummed riffs into crescendos of expertly crafted minor chord progressions and melodies evoking a sense of the dark and the spaces without.

This is a classic of Swedish extreme metal that has been rightly recognised as such. It may sound generic to modern ears, but this is one of those albums that created the iconic sound. It is simple but not simplistic. At first listen it may seem somewhat rudimentary in form. But repeated listens offer new corners and passages one may have missed first time around. This is the hallmark of intelligent and intuitive composition, one that through slight of hand unfolds its ideas gradually, without the need to be upfront with its own complexities.

Originally published at Hate Meditations

Joakim Sterner, the last remaining founding member of Necrophobic, looks back on a long history of the band which does not lack of tragedy (the suicide of David Parland in 2013) and scandals (the criminal behaviour of Tobbe Sidegård in the same year). But first and foremost, the Swedish combatants for Satan have gained their name due to their strong albums. One might discuss about the question, which full-length is the best one. But one cannot deny that each and every album possesses the necessary substance in order to enrich the black scene. Therefore, Necrophobic has never released a weak output so far. Instead, they guarantee an above-average quality standard. "The Nocturnal Silence" already showed the typical trademarks of the band.

Due to the fact that their musicianship was obviously on a high level, the musicians did not need a warm-up period. Right from the beginning, they acted in a very professional manner while writing rangy and filigree riffs. Thus, they could not be compared with their highly interesting yet rumbling compatriots of Unleashed, Dismember or Grave, although the sound of Necrophobic revealed a strong affinity to death metal. But Sterner and his alternating band mates always scored with an extra dose of malignancy and insidiousness. Perhaps one can say that the band was - and still is - able to create a black metal atmosphere while playing death metal. This statement might be a little bit too simple. Nevertheless, it has some elements of truth. Necrophobic knew how to drag you into the songs while opening the gates to a lightless kingdom. As an example, the first riffs of "Unholy Prophecies" demonstrated this strength of the band. This song also impressed with its dynamic tempo changes, even though the part after the second chorus with the spoken words sequence was not fully convincing. However, its main riffs had the effect of a black catharsis. (Does that exist?)

In general, the songs offered typical death metal melodies that intertwined with a certain degree of rigour. The targeted and talented band did not eschew to deliver stormy high speed parts as well as a few keyboard-soaked sequences and the title track served as a prime example for this statement. Apart from some stereo effects (listen to the extremely furious "Sacrificial Rites"), the vocals did not add a special flavour. But no need to panic, they were powerful and had a suitable diabolic touch. It is therefore an interesting fact that lead vocalist Anders Strokirk, who left the band after this album, has returned in 2014. Regardless of this, all musicians profited from the vigorous and dark production. It emphasized the guitars without neglecting the contributions of the other band members. Especially during the solos, it became obvious that the mix did not lack of depth.

Despite the amazingly matured musicianship of the band members, the album left room for improvement. It was a good debut and the band indicated its huge potential. But of course, the record was not perfect. The compositions lacked a bit of surprising elements and did not offer the amazing level of intensity that some of its successors possessed. The same went for the number of absolutely brilliant moments. But do not get me wrong, the here presented pieces did not give reason for serious complaints. It is easily understandable why this release turned into a classic, albeit I do not really have a favourite track. Anyway, Necrophobic had created an album which was more than the sum of its parts.

Necrophobic have always been the underdogs to me when it comes to their Swedish contemporaries (ie. Dissection, Entomed, Grave), but they should not be discounted for when it comes to giving utmost adulation for defining, influencing, and having a compelling impact on the evolution of Swedish (and Blackened) Death Metal. The Nocturnal Silence is Necrophobic's mephistolphelian debut album, and it truly precedes any of the bands successive releases. I am a fan of the band's entire discography, especially the subsequent "Darkside", but absolutely NOTHING comes close to topping the carefully calculated work of abomination that is The Nocturnal Silence. When you first sit down to listen to the music, and that's what you have to do when listening to this album. This is not something that can listened to as background music and be fully acknowledged and apprehend by the listener. Infact, it requires full engagement to be summoned into this realm of oblivion, so prepare yourselves.

We awaken in the tomb of the Necroworld; fueled by oppressive and blackened hatred. We hear nothing but the sounds of Blackmoon's eerie keys being played, and with every quiet note a growing intense feeling of unsettlement begins to arouse in our minds and hearts with weighted distress. And then...it happens. The grounds below our very feet open wider than the jaws of the earth during a world-shattering earthquake, and Necrophobic whirls a barrage of tremolo-picked riffs at our ears as we seemingly fall forever into the abyss...

"As darkness falls
Spirits are set free
As darkness falls
Awakening of the dead..."

It really is a cool experience! Necrophobic's riffing is especially driven by dark and grievous melodies, something the listener can't help but be enticed by. With every harmonic chord and note struck, you will soon be ordinarly humming the melodies and be completely encompassed by the brilliance of this album. But Necrophobic's arsenal is not full of just melodies here, they have plenty of nasty and distgusting riffs that are so prominent in Swedish death metal, such as the ones produced in the songs Unholy Prophecies, The Ancients Gate, and extensively in this whole album! Necrophobic truely know how to maintain their sound as a whole. Tobbe Sidegard's vocals are hideously catchy, and if I had not known his name, I'd think Lucifer himself were proclaiming for this band. Sterner's drums are pounding and menancing, and while not exceedingly decorative, he knows exactly what he should be playing during each section to maintain the deliberate maniacal atmosphere that this masterpiece is proverbial for.

If I was FORCED to complain about one single thing on The Nocturnal Silence, it would be that the bass is not as audible as I wish it were. The comprehensive sound would equal out to something like this: 25% drums, 25% guitar, 30% vocals, 20% bass. The vocals are easily heard with coherence of the drums and guitar, but the bass is swallowed in the mix. There are certain parts where it definitely stands out, such as in the opening parts of Father of Creation and the title track, but as a whole, it resonates below the rest of the music. This is a very petty dissatisfaction, and was rarely even considered when determining my final verdict of The Nocturnal Silence. The devilishly genuine elements of the music, the expansive and captivating atmosphere, the profone themes and lyrical content, they all speak the loudest. To put this in perspective, we have ourselves an album where the positives outweigh the negatives, and by outweigh, I mean completely crush. The Nocturnal Silence is genuine in it's vision, and massive in it's scope. All in all, if you're a fan of oldschool Death Metal, you should know about Necrophobic and this legendary and timeless antiquity!

There are two Swedish death metal albums that I absolutely worship and can't imagine life without them. You can erase everything else, but not these two LPs. "The Nocturnal Silence" is first of the two. The other one is titled "Like an Ever Flowing Stream". Of course I remember also about the other Swedish masterpieces - I'm not denying the greatness of "Left Hand Path", "Into the Grave" or "Seeming Salvation". But those two albums I've mentioned in the beginning are for me the most brilliant and perfect; only "Altars of Madness" and "Testimony of the Ancients" can rival them. That's my opinion and whether you agree or not, I don't give a shit.

So, Necrophobic... The band didn't come out of nowhere... Two cool demo tapes and killer EP gave them a strong background. But even though I love the second demo and EP, I just couldn't expect they'll be able to deliver such a stunning recording. "The Nocturnal Silence" is an album, that has been perfected in every detail and each song from it is able to give me thrills. I think one of the major winning aspect of the album is the fact how strong melodically it is, but without ending sugarry or boring. Basically most of the riffs are melodic, but the thing is they're also savage, aggressive, catchy, thus Necrophobic created an overwhelming, dark atmosphere. I can't believe how catchy the album is, but at the same time it has this cold, sinister, satanic feeling that freezes my blood. It's evil to the bone. One fine example is the title song, with its slow opening melody, which quickly transforms into fast, uncompromising riffing. Simple, but how well executed and composed. The band delivers a well diversified music, with very brutal and aggressive tracks like "Inborn Evil" and songs more focused on melody like "Awakening..." or "Unholy Prophecies". Or the best song from the album, killer "The Ancients Gate". Even if the whole album is played in mid tempos, or even has slight Cemetary's "An Evil Shade of Grey" feeling here and there, no way it's boring or monotonous. It completely the opposite - it draws attention and devours like a beast that just crawled out from the abyss.

The performance of every band member is really good, but I must say that the guitar playing of David Parland is just top quality; he's amazing and I can feel what he later transformed into much faster and unrelenting black metal style of Dark Funeral. His leads - like the one in "Sacrificial Rites" or "Before the Dawn" - are fantastic and only David Blomqvist equals him! Then there's also brilliant work of the vocalist Anders Strokirk, who's been new in the band and lasted only one year, but as much as I also like the present vocalist, Tobias, Anders had amazing voice, that fitted perfectly to Necrophobic style and Swedish death metal (remember he also contributed to such bands as Hetsheads and Mykorrhiza, but it's not the same league). I'm not sure whether he's also responsible for the lyrics, I don't think so, but they're some of the most satanic and evil texts ever written in the Swedish death metal scene.

Soundwise you know the shit well... It's pretty standard Sunlight Studios production, close to what they've also done to bands like Epitaph. But I just love this sound, especially they way guitars cut like razor sharp knives. Even the drums sound better that on the average Sunlight recording... So, any weaknesses of "The Nocturnal Silence"? Nope. I like it the way it is and as I already mentioned this is the masterpiece and classic no one will ever be able to rival.

Necrophobic has always been on of the most consistent Swedish death metal bands, but that’s not what sets them apart from their contemporaries. What sets them apart is that they’re one of the first bands to pioneer the blackened death metal sound that’s so prevalent today. Many people like to credit fucking Behemoth for this, but fuck that, Necrophobic did it first and have always done it better. Their debut, The Nocturnal Silence, is a classic Swedish death metal album that masterfully takes their death metal sound and mixes in some black metal riffing to create a wonderfully dark sound.

This isn’t a “fast” album by any means. It’s mostly mid-tempo stuff, actually, but that tempo is what really defines the atmosphere in my opinion. The riffs here either of the catchy variety, the doomy, drawn out variety, or the classic tremolo-picked variety. The termolo picked riffs are the most interesting ones here because some of these sound more like black metal riffs than death metal riffs for some reason, and with the relatively constant mid-tempo speed of the music, they’re presence and contribution to the overall atmosphere is more noticeable.

Of course, another important aspect of this album is how melodic it is. There are a lot of catchy riffs and leads which Necrophobic heavily emphasizes by letting everything else take a back seat when they’re present. Seriously, this is some of the catchiest Swedish death metal out there! The solos are mostly on the slower, melodic side as well, with lots of emphasis on mood and very little emphasis on being “fast” or “brutal.” On the contrary, this album is about being evil and dark instead, which is why the black metal riffs work so well with the death metal parts of the album. Unlike bad melodic death metal albums, The Nocturnal Silence has the melody and and the soft interludes that just add to the dark atmosphere rather than detract from it. The melody here just makes this album sound fucking evil.

The vocals are another highlight of Necrophobic’s sound. They’re of the higher, raspier style (i.e., what you’d hear from a Florida death metal band), but they sound a bit more gruff than the most vocalists who use this style. Whatever it is, these vocals really work wonders. If anything, I’m reminded a lot of the vocals on Morbid Angel’s Altars of Madness, which is a comparison that most bands should strive to attain. These are like those vocals, but more black metal-oriented. The vocal delivery on this album is really nothing short of stellar. Every line sounds genuinely evil, and this is the icing on this death metal cake of awesomeness.

I can’t help but compare this to At the Gates’ only good album, The Red it the Sky is Ours. Despite shit-tastic production, that album had a lot of basic elements in common with The Nocturnal Silence. The main difference is that Necrophobic was able to incorporate different influences to craft an entirely new, evil sound, whereas At the Gates let the melodic influences limit what they could do with their music. Sure, The Red in the Sky is Ours is a good album, but The Nocuturnal SIlence does everything it does, minus the violin crap, better. One important point of comparison in my opinion is the vocals on both albums. Both are very emotive, but the one of The REd in the Sky is Ours is a bit unrefined. Sure, that unrefined quality adds to the charm of it, but it doesn’t quite add to the atmosphere like the ones on The Nocturnal Silence do. Summary: if you’re looking for a dark, melodic, and fucking evil-sounding death metal album, look no further than The Nocturnal Silence.

Written for http://thenumberoftheblog.com/

There are classic albums and there are cult albums. The Nocturnal Silence is both, one of the best early statements of the Swedish death metal uprising of the early to mid 90s. Unlike a Left Hand Path though, this one wasn't an instant personal attraction. It took several years to develop on me, but one drunken evening I was listening to it with a friend at university and it suddenly dawned on me...this is awesome.

Necrophobic tend towards the occult side of the death metal spectra, with grim lyrics about hell and vile philosophies. They have a similar guitar tone to their contemporaries, but otherwise do not sound quite the same as far as how they present their riffs. I once thought this album was a rambling mess, but it is in fact pinpoint in its delivery of grinding guitars and the barking of ex-vocalist Anders Strokirk. The album is produced by the infamous Tomas Skogsberg so you know what to expect.

As a complete work The Nocturnal Silence is extremely consistent, each of the nine tracks destroys. "Awakening" begins with some spooky keyboards, soon joined by some slower leads before the churning guitars herald the apocalypse. Simple old school death rhythms commence a dark mood on the diabolic "Before the Dawn". "Unholy Prophecies" has a few rhythms which recall Slayer when they were good. The title track begins with haunted acoustics, again building into a grim lead melody. "Inborn Evil" has a slower groove to it, while "The Ancient's Gate" starts with the sickest groove on the album. Also of note are the barbaric and fast-paced "Sacrificial Rites" and the creepy "Where Sinners Burn".

Though the album has been remastered, it still sounds great in its original form. There is nothing overly polished about it, it simply manages to retain a dark intonation that many death metal albums only wish they could have. So often we forget what the pure evil of this genre used to sound like, jaded from endless overdubbed albums with focus on technical precision to the detriment of atmosphere. The Nocturnal Silence remains my favorite of Necrophobic's albums, and a true relic of extreme Swedish metal.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

This isn’t the darkest, most evil album I’ve ever heard, but Necrophobic always had a knack for creating some twisted shit. Sinful while at the same time melodic, this band blends well the traits of black metal into death metal. Therefore, tremolo and a razor-like guitar tone is the par for the course, with vocals tortured and drums you can expect more on the stomping end than the prancing one. Every song here is a stab against all that is holy or a virgin; a wise choice of enemies.

It’s difficult to identify the better vocalist: Anders or future frontman Tobias. Both have mutilated growls and terrifying screams full of agony, both share no mercy for the weak, and I believe their voices add a spiritual touch to the despicable style of Parland. Parland himself doesn’t let up once on the riffs – reminding me of Morbid Angel if they got their shit together. The riffs here are fast and depraved or thrashy and vile – very sharp, but not thin or thick like Dismember’s chainsaw distortion. Drums follow along with blast beasts, checkered timing, and fun beats to drive along with. Solos aren’t sparse, but they aren’t showstoppers either; more emphasis is given to the evoking, blasphemous essence of song build-ups.

For instance, the title track (my favorite on the album), broods into hellish territory with the most malevolent clean guitar prod I’ve ever heard. It’s so nasty that I imagine Satan using it as a battle anthem for his offensive against Heaven. Picture that: hordes of demons and all other evil shitlings storming the gates – laying waste, raped angels, and a final battle to end all battles. The sound of the drums is clear, though the double bass is buried pretty badly. I hoped to have a little more chunkiness from it, since the hats and toms are perfect sounding for this music. Atmosphere also I wish was a little bit more haunting like Immortalis’ album.

That may be asking a little much, since herein the riffs are enough to carry the album. “Inborn Evil” and “The Ancients Gate” both are fantastic follow-ups to the title track, delving into cross-grumbling classical lead riffs, proving that melody can be induced effectively without sacrificing grit and style. I’m surprised that bass isn’t more prominent in the music; you really can’t hear it all that well. Not that it kills the music or anything, but the album could have been more wicked had the bass been bumped up.

Lastly, that cover art should have been scrapped. The colors are all good: red, purple, and black are a great combination, but that just looks way too cartoony. Now Darkside… that utilized these three colors damn well, but we’ll get to that later.

This album is probably best described as the Swedish version of Altars of Madness. Some of you might be scratching your heads at that, but what I mean is not so much in the actual music itself but the aesthetic that it creates. Relying less on fast paced brutal blasting, and more on creating atmosphere with eerie melodies. The production has that typical Swedish death metal sound, clear and dry, the guitars are a tad fuzzy but are very well defined, creating a dark atmosphere. Most of the riffs are tremolo picked melodies, in fact it's almost all tremolo riffs. The drums are great and varied, a lot of credit should be given to their drummer as he ties this evil masterpiece together wonderfully. The vocals are not quite a shout, not quite a growl, and sound a bit like early David Vincent, and they are very well done. Lots of blasphemous hate is spewed out of the mouth of their singer. There is the occasional spoken word, and a well placed scream here and there to accentuate certain passages. The lyrics are pure evil blasphemy, and are surprisingly well written. Hell I can't write lyrics this good, and English is my first language, so I have no excuse.

Every track on this album is great, there is absolutely no filler at all, even the short instrumental retains the eerie atmosphere nicely. There are even some moments of progression, like on "Before the Dawn" which contains some piano and spoken word, which is intermingled very nicely with the heavy music going on under it. In fact, I wish there were more moments like that on the disc....Heh, I never would have thought I would be asking for MORE piano from a death metal band. Another reviewer mentioned lack of guitar solos as a down side, and I agree completely. When they do show up they are absolutely wonderful, but they are few and far between, and often are very short(maybe 20 seconds of a 5 minute song.) The album does a great job of constantly changing, and keeping things varied.

Some death metal fans may find this album to be too slow and monotonous, and I can see that, because it's more or less true. I don't think there's a blast beat on the entire disc, there are only maybe 2 songs that could be described as being fast, and the vocals aren't growled in the vein of Chris Barnes. But trust me, this album is fucking heavy and down right evil!

Necrophobic have been around for as long as I have (18 years). To me, Necrophobic have always been a black metal band. The reason for this was, until last night, I hadn't heard anything from Necrophobic which could be classed as "death metal" and in fairness, this is their only full-length which is closest to death metal.

When I got this album, I was expecting a real blast. My reaction was similar to: "Alright! Necrophobic! This is gonna be a solid piece of black metal." However, my reaction at the end was some what different. As soon as the vocals on this album started, I knew this wasn't going to be black metal, rather blackened death metal. This album really was the first of its kind. It seems almost unintentionally that Necrophobic created this. Obviously, before this release, they were making full, solid death metal but when they started recording this, black metal started to influence them. Thus we get death metal with black metal influences hence: blackened death metal.

As stated above, it seems almost unintentionally they released the genre defining album of blackened death metal. The guitar riffs on here sound very much like death metal ala bands such as Bloodbath. Usually, heavy and fast. The riffs are usually fairly complex and the songs have a lot of variety in them, so you won’t get bored listening to them.

The soloing here was excellent. David Parland in my opinion is a great guitarist, so it's no wonder that the solos kick so much ass. Necrophobic have always been a band that have great solos. The solos on this album are long, skillful and epic and sound a lot like the stuff you'd hear on a black metal album. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying death metal solos are devoid of talent. Just listen to Blood Red Throne if you need proof of this but the solos on here really do sound like the stuff you're going to find on a black metal album. Probably the reason for this is because Dave was involved with the Swedish black metal band Dark Funeral, whom he left this band for.

The vocals are the epitome of blackened death. They are in the midpoint between black metal and death metal. He does a decent job, let me just say he's a lot better than Tobias Sidegård who is, at best, a pretty mediocre black metal vocalist (by the time he took over vocal duties, Necrophobic were playing black metal.)

The production is between, big budget production and the raw production of black metal. This seems to be one of the black metal influences on this album. The production probably was some sort of bridge between the true genres if you will. From decent production to raw production.

I can now understand why this band calls themselves death metal. As stated before, up until now, I always considered Necrophobic to be a black metal band. However, it really is ridiculous that people still call them death metal; after all, Hrimthrusum was a black metal album, pure and simple. After The Nocturnal Silence, Necrophobic would move onto to become a black metal band (if you need proof just listen to Darkside). Even here, the black metal elements are noticeable, e.g. the song names, the artwork, solos. Why Necrophobic became black metal who knows, perhaps it was subtle and they didn't really notice it. Or maybe because, at the time, "It was normal in European countries for black metal enthusiasts to terrorize other notable death metal bands that were touring” (source Wikipedia). This album was released in 1993, so that's still when the Black Circle was around and they did have members in Sweden (notably Jon from Dissection). Whatever, the reason, this is a solid piece of blackened death metal, which really did, go onto define a genre.

Conclusion: The above is recommended for download or purchase.

“Melody” is such a controversial concept. A parcel like it a lot, and others just can’t stand it. That’s because, when used in the wrong way, it will turn into a powerful screw-up agent to the music. Traditional heavy metal works great with some melodic ideas. It’s also a present factor in some thrash bands like Heathen. However, its relation with death metal is often dismissed (or hated). Some DM bands have that concept in full domain, and others simply overdo it and we end up with albums like “A Banquet in Darkness”.

In my opinion, melody should not be involved in a musical genre that was meant to be violent and unrelenting. But “The Nocturnal Silence” proves to be an exception. This cd was not meant to be brutal, but dark. The drum work, empty of blastbeats and other features of standard death metal violence proves that. The vocals are much more in the black metal territory, instead of the standard death metal growls. The emphasis here is in the evil sounding DM riffs, with their particular grinding sound, trademark of every death metal album. Good production provides that crunchy sound to the riffs. Speaking of those, they are not banal in any way, with some complexity, never sounding boring or over-technical.

This band has a nice eye for melody. The prevalent guitar style is blended with some great melody touches, which unlike most bands today, are not annoying or cheesy in any way. There are melodic riffs, acoustic interludes and pretty good soloing. No happy, Holymarsh-like annoyances are to be found here. It’s all somber and dark (including those spoken passages…”I believe in the dark lord”), exactly how the album theme (all things eeevil) demands.

The soloing is purely melodic. They are pretty good sounding, but lacking in length. This is one of this CD’s weaknesses. The lead guitarist should be more present, considering the length of the songs (around 4 and 6 minutes), which provides time enough for more elaborated solos. No matter how short they are, the excellence is there. My favorite is that one at “Where the Sinners Burn”.

The songs are pretty diverse in their structures. Speed, midpaced crunches, acoustic interludes are all here. “Sacrificial Rites” alternates those in a very intelligent way. “Awakening” is pure guitar delight. The album seems to lose a little bit of its power by the end, but nothing significant enough to hamper the progress.

All in all, “The Nocturnal Silence” meshes DM and melody in a very good, entertaining way. Recommended.