Is a necro(w)retch the sound made by someone who has consumed too much corpse-flesh? Possibly, as considering three different writers have tackled their albums in the past, none of them have surprisingly come back for seconds. These ghoulish Gaul’s have worked steadfastly at spewing out their brand of putrid death sorcery and have amassed five studio albums to date. What I have heard in the past has been pretty good but I can’t say I have ever sat down and dissected things personally. Said to be blackened death by genre there is a thin dividing line which I personally would put slightly more in the black metal camp due to lyrical concepts and sound. Here they tackle a deceiving anti-Christ like entity and deceiver in Islamic culture described as “a maleficent eschatological figure.” The question is, just how sharp is his sword?
With melodic precision we bomb into opener ‘Ksar Al-Kufar’ and there’s nothing blunt about their attack. Production is really rich and clear here allowing all the textures to shine but attention is drawn to Vlad’s wretched, retching vocal rasps. Glistening guitar leads provide a delicious weave over it all from guitarist W. Cadaver and drummer N. Destroyer pumps out the adrenaline fuelled surges driving the pace along. ‘The Fifth Door’ is flung wide open and thunders and heaves away, vocals rising to screams and thorny guitars weave, sparkling and adding depth and atmosphere over the slower moments. This is particularly enhanced by some fantastical instrumental parts such as at the end of the track which really help you imagine arcane sorcery from far off times and lands. Speaking of which, by Dii Mauri (look up mysterious Mauran Gods from North Africa in the 3rd century for further insight) the style should be increasingly apparent by now. Necrowretch have that Swedish dark and blackened style formulated by the likes of Necrophobic and Dissection and latterly expanded by Watain down to a fine art here and it has to be said it makes for an invigorating listening experience. The title track swarms away in dynamic fashion, huge yells ring out and the drums canter off with darkness oozing out of every crevice. Another instrumental section is magnificently malignant just like the perpetrator at the heart of the prose and put simply this song is hellishly impressive.
Mesopotamian mischief spreads with tenacious intent into the second half of the fiery and somewhat compact 37-minute album. ‘Numidian Knowledge’ is dark and dangerously unleashed but spell-craft is not always full on with destructive force as gothic shimmers from the guitars prove. ‘Vae Victis’ is a jubilant battle salute which steams away, lopping off limbs as the vocals are flung out to match the velocity of the music. ‘Daeva’ turns to “disagreeable” Persian demonic gods cast out by the Zoroastrians in the form of a shorter obsidian instrumental piece before final wrathful judgement is delivered on storming conclusion ‘Total Obliteration.’
I only got to this album just after it was released due to the huge amount of stuff coming out. It almost got overlooked but I’m damn glad it didn’t as Swords Of Dajjal provided a much needed dark jolt to the system. Obviously themes have been studiously studied here and the music is the perfect match to go with them. All I need now is the time to go back and listen to the earlier albums properly but with this Necrowretch have mightily impressed.
(8/10 Pete Woods)
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