A posthumous release here and featuring the last vocal recordings of founder Killjoy who sadly shuffled off the The Beyond in 2018. Put together by the surviving band members along with some vocal help by Incantation’s John McEntee along with ex- Goblin member Titta Tani and naturally Mirai from Sigh on keyboards, it’s a bit of a hodge-podge of ideas and includes rough and ready demo recordings. So it’s best not to go into this expecting a polished follow-up to 2014 album WhiteWorm Cathedral.
Things start off in style and one could easily have expected the opening samples and instrumental tribute to Fulci’s Freudstein Fright-Flick ‘The House By The Cemetery’ having delighted the departed former frontman. The Walter Rizzati theme is spot on and sends the cold shiver of the grave right down the spine and makes you want to view the film again at the first opportunity. The title track is next and is full of grinding riffs courtesy of Jake and Serge whilst the drums pound and Killjoy retches away in ghastly black-bloody vomitorium style. It’s macabre and rancid with plenty of deathly lurches coating things in gore and slime. With these two tracks one fully gets the spirit of the band and perhaps the way they would have continued had tragedy not have befallen.
Unfortunately, what follows is not of the same calibre and ‘Bleeding Torment’ sees a big dip in recording quality and volume levels. The opening chugging riffs actually sound like they have escaped from a Ministry song and once things move to doomy terrains there’s some serious Black Sabbath aping going on too. The demo quality is obvious but you get the idea of what sounds like more of a studio jam than anything else and once acclimatised to this the vocals are spewed out in style. ‘Mental Decay’ is clearer in tone and again pays homage to horror via Mussorgsky’s ‘Night On Bald Mountain.’ This fantasia is somewhat overstretched though before the rancid thrash of original material comes through, the vocals sounding like a vile goblin do at least hit the spot. ‘Halloween 3’ takes in the Season Of The Witch via sample and is a spooky cover version of the Samhain song, thankfully without a silver shamrock in sight. It’s good ghoulish fun I guess.
Originally released as a single in 2013 we get a live rendering of ‘The Wicked’ probably from one of the last ever shows in 2017. Sadly, levels are ramped up and it’s frankly a bit of a distorted and abrasive mess. With two pretty inconsequential instrumentals ‘Scarecrows’ and ‘Sundown’ left to boost the running time to the half-hour mark that’s it; dark night all round.
One has to wonder whether Killjoy would have approved of this material being released, apart perhaps from the first couple of tracks. For fans the whole endeavour could be looked at as a chance to give this a listen for curiosity sake whilst raising a glass to the departed before going back to the gory, glory days of the past. As for the former members of the band, it would be nice if they could close this chapter and move onto something else together under a different name as many would consider that Necrophagia truly died with their host and should now be left to rest in peace.
(6/10 Pete Woods)
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