NECROPHOBIC: In The Twilight Grey (BLACK METAL): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

Necrophobic's melodic, dark death-black has never really interested us, despite its generally well-crafted albums. The band's (overly) tried-and-tested, if not facile workings are an eternal second-knife to Sweden's extreme metal scene, with mercenaries from the likes of Nifelheim, Dismember, Grave and Entombed A. D. on board. D. And it's not “In The Twilight Grey” that's likely to change our opinion of him, a collection of ten new projections whose undeniable effectiveness rivals an equally undeniable banality.

There's no doubting the musicians' know-how, which ensures that this opus is honest, but stuck in the mid-90s, in the blessed era of Dissection and Sacramentum, they never manage to surprise. It's well done, although the sound coating is surprisingly lacking in power, the writing is sharp and the whole thing harvests corpses without breaking down for over fifty diabolical minutes at a steady, sometimes oppressive pace. The fact remains that these compositions will certainly not stand the test of time and will be quickly forgotten.

This judgment may sound (overly) harsh, but let's face it, this combination of relentless velocity and cold nocturnal ambiences that spread like a gloomy mist always provides some good moments of meticulous brutality. 'Grace Of The Past' opens the listening experience in the best possible way, while 'Shadows Of The Brightless Night' seduces with its multiple breaks, 'Cast In Stone' with its heavy tempo and guitars bursting with melodies as racy as they are cutting, and, after a darkly emphatic intro, 'Mirrors Of A Thousand Lakes' concretizes an aggression that is both haunting and sprawling.

However, like their titles, which don't display fierce originality, these songs operate too mechanically, robbing them of their soul if not their (black) magic. In short, Necrophobic remains too smooth and not sinister enough for worshippers of mortiferous black, while being too brutal to seduce those who like to venture cautiously into the darkness.

Objectively speaking, “In The Twilight Grey” is a good record, supported by an execution that cannot arouse the slightest reservation and generous in incisive cartridges whose effect live will be bleeding, but it is condemned to be put away on a shelf that it will never leave... - Official website

NECROPHOBIC

IN THE TWILIGHT GREY

CENTURY MEDIA RECORDS

BLACK METAL