I blame Horror for me not being as into Black Metal. As a child I gravitated towards B-movies and nasty Horror flicks (probably a bit worrying on reflection). Because of this it would appear that my natural path would lead to a love of Death Metal and the extreme. Because of this I never truly fell for Black Metal, I’ve always liked it but never been obsessed. However, as time ticks by I find myself more fascinated by ideas of Satan and the occult (you can thank Last Podcast On The Left for that). So nowadays I’m willing to delve a little bit deeper than Mayhem and Darkthrone.
Which leads me to Nekkrofukk (literally what a name, and what a spelling!). Immediately I knew I had to review this. A Polish one man Black/ Doom Metal project under the leadership of Lord K. It sounded vile and I was ready for anything the release would throw at me. Then I saw the album name, Mysterious Rituals In The Abyss Of Sabbath & Eternal Celebration Of The Blakk Goat. So over the top, this is the bands fourth full length record, and one that comes to us through Putrid Cult. However, is this style over substance?
The Great Beast Speaks, an intro that comes in with haunting effect and epic nature. This hypnotic occultism is sure to draw in any fan of the macabre arts. The organ sounds are huge and the anticipation boils over as the album blends into Summoning Of Azrael. The instant raw tone of guitars breaks through, then comes pounding drums, instrumentation that is closer to BDM than Black Metal. The vocals too are uncharacteristic of Black Metal, again more closely linked to guttural BDM or even OSDM. However, there is a sort of evil tone that lays throughout creating a slower Revenge or Conqueror vibe, I dig it. Following on from this blistering start is Khursed Gathering On Sabbath, the longest song on the album. This one really packs a punch amping up the Doom qualities we’ve already seen with further haunting keyboards and mild symphonic elements, Satanic as hellfire and brilliantly composed.
Moving into the second half of the album we are greeted by Devil’s Blood Injection. As funerary chimes ring out, so does a wave of Doom heavy Blackened filth that is heavier than a truck full of tar. It’s brutal to say the least, and speaking as someone who mainly listens to Death Metal this is the sort of Blackened influence I can really get behind. I particularly like the grim, nigh on Ambient/ Drone portion part way through, very different and dark. Spiewajac Psalmy Smierci has some of the sickest vocals the album has to offer, borderline Goregrind to my ears, if you like music heavy then this is the real deal. The album finally closes with Vlčí Žena, not only does it round off the album nicely but those keyboards are perfection, proof that there is not one single boring moment in this wild ride.
I always say to people that I don’t do things by halves and that’s kind of true, such is the case with Nekkrofukk. This album jumped out at me because of the ridiculous spellings and elaborate title, I knew this would be my jam. I like things to be pushed to their logical conclusion and to me this feels like the furtherest you can push raw Black Metal. It’s huge, Doom laden, extreme, to a degree even Symphonic, this has it all and all the dials are turned up to eleven broken off and thrown in the bin. Give me more of this unholy filth!
(9/10 George Caley)
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