Album Review: Necronomicon - Constant To Death
Reviewed by Gareth Pugh
I have to say I was a bit shocked to find that Germany’s Necronomicon have been around in one form or another since 1984, and although obviously haven’t hit the heights of some of their brethren bands that have been around for a similar length of time, your Sodom’s or Destruction’s, or even relative newbies Kreator, for instance. But what they lack in notoriety they certainly make up in enthusiasm. ‘Constant to Death’ is the bands eleventh full length album. This a different band to the one back then, with only Freddy (vocals and guitar) remaining from the early days of the self-titled debut back in 1986, with the next longest serving member being Marco Lohrenz (bass), who joined in 2013, while the rest of the band Rik Charron (drums) and Glen Shannon (solo guitar) having both joined the band in 2019, and this is the second release with the same line-up, the same as 2021’s ‘The Final Chapter’.
Starting with the title-track, the band decide to lure you in with some slow bludgeoning, rather than a quick smack to the head, with some nice chunky riffing, and gets you in the mood to thrash, in fact the first 1, 2, 3 punches of the first three tracks hit you, all clocking in at under three minutes, slow, fast and entertainingly melodic, in fact I’m surprised at how melodic this album is, sure there’s plenty of thrash and speed on offer but the likes of ‘They Lie’ and ‘Stored in Blood’ have vast hooks and some fantastic guitar melodies, which you’d probably associate more with power metal, than out and out thrash.
The first four tracks, flash past in a pleasing blur, which isn’t surprising when three of them clock in under three minutes, and the other is also a mere three and a half, ‘The Guilty Shepherd’ is a bit longer and more involved, with a lengthy intro, and some more intricate guitar lines, and a mellow middle eight with acoustic instrumentation, before finishing with a pounding double bass drum, driven section. ‘Black Rain’ is another one of the more involved tracks, with a modern, and industrial feel to it. The album ends on good note with the atmospheric ‘Poverty Show’, which starts with crows cawing, bells tolling, and slow acoustic guitars, before the intensity is cranked up and the song itself, a real fast powerhouse, that thrashes nicely to the finale.
I can’t see ‘Constant to Death’ turning Necronomicon into household names, but there has definitely been a progression since the last album, with stronger songwriting and more variety. This will certainly please long-time fans, while also being more appealing to newer, or more casual listeners. If you’re a fan of Destruction, but fancy a bit more variation and melody, why not give Necronomicon’s ‘Constant to Death’ a try.
