Having a legendary status is surely both a boon and a hindrance. Naturally it means that you’ve achieved a huge goal but at the same time the pressure is always going to be greater. What happens if you don’t deliver? Or look at say Mastodon’s The Hunter or Behemoth’s The Satanist. Groundbreaking records that gain a massive amount of praise but people also detest as well, a huge album can create this sort of extremist divide amongst fans. Why am I talking about huge bands you may ask, well because of the mighty Asphyx of course!
This Netherlands based tour de force of Death Doom aren’t just a great band but an influential one too. I mean just take the debut album The Rack released in 1991. The impact of this release is massive, but it makes you wonder what would have happened if the band had dropped that back in 87 or 88! I truly think that Asphyx both get the praise they deserve and equally don’t get enough. I mean look at the Deathhammer album! 2012 that record dropped and still it is utterly crushing, the bands consistency is of top quality. So how will their milestone tenth full length Necroceros play out?
Greeting the new year with much optimism is The Sole Cure Is Death which seems a morbid yet fitting introduction to the latest Asphyx and another year of coronavirus. The track is atypical of Asphyx’s style thundering traditional Death Metal with those iconic Martin Van Drunen vocals plus a good helping of Doom. Like a lava plume and fiery sludge comes Molten Black Earth, more Doom laced Death Metal with some simplistic yet memorable drum patterns and riffs. Keeping the riff game strong is Mount Skull, arguably one of the best songs from the album full of epic Death Metal power, one that I feel even draws influence from more traditional Heavy Metal in it’s guitar sound at points. I mostly like Asphyx for their more Doom portions so naturally Three Years Of Famine is a particular hit for me. It even has an almost Gothic Metal overtone, it’s really interesting to see Asphyx playing with many different influences on this release.
Botox Implosion gets back into some purist Death Metal territory and almost feels like the start to a whole new album, it works well though it must be said. In Blazing Oceans gets back to some more powerful riffs full of emotion and memorability, devastating and awesome. I have to confess that this second half doesn’t pack quite the same punch as the start of the record. Sure Yield Or Die is a bold song but it’s not playing with any new or exciting themes like prior tracks. There is of course the concluding title track which does buck my statement rather. This song is a huge epic and encompassing of Asphyx and their history. It’s as good an ending as one could expect and vastly improves the somewhat less thrilling second part of the record.
In conclusion I wouldn’t get overly excited about this album but at points Necroceros is unwaveringly brilliant. It’s the kind of album I would expect to hear from Asphyx, high quality Death Metal. However, there are a few tracks that fall into the filler category and as such the album suffers for it. That said I wouldn’t discourage anyone from giving it a listen, fans new and old will find much enjoyment within. After all how often do we see a truly flawless album? It’s very rare, I can’t say that I was bored at any time during this album at least and surely that counts for something?
(8/10 George Caley)
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