Necrophagia - Holocausto de la Morte (1998)

Holocausto de la Morte was kind of a big deal since it saw Killjoy and Necrophagia resurrected from the dead, and although it carries many hallmarks from their 80s thrash-tempered material, this was really the dawn of the peculiar, minimalistic and evil death metal style that this band will forever foremost be known for. It's also interesting for me because it's a good example of an album I had little fondness for when I received the promo for an old paper zine back in those late 90s, but as I listen with what I hope to be fresh, well-aged ears, I can garner a little more appreciation for what the guys were trying here. In terms of its place in 'horror metal', while its far from a novel example by this date, I think the almost constant use of samples and themes here makes it one of the first things I think of when those two terms are joined together.

The formula: extremely basic, crisp thrashing rhythms alternated with Hellhammer-style grooves, never sounding they took more than a few minutes to conceive, but slathered with personality due to the guts gargling vocal presence of Mr. Killjoy. I mean this guy literally sounds like he's chewing on a rodent as he intonates these lyrics...a rat or squirrel being gnashed in his teeth, his tongue flicking about it to make sure the words make it to the microphone with somewhat proper pronunciation. It's the kind of comical you might have first experienced with John Tardy or Chris Reifert, only arguably taken to a further extreme. And yet, I admit it's one of the most endearing and compelling components of this band. The riffs are also engaging despite how crude they come across, especially when they're drowned in all the morbid chants and samples and narrative that gives you a drugged out effect. Remember that movie I Drink Your Blood with all the evil hippies? This album sounds like you could layer it in as an alternative soundtrack to that and it would function perfectly. It's got a kitsch quality about it like bad, bloody, cult special effects and styrofoam graveyards and as I type these ridiculous things I realize it's one of the high points for me.

The production is also really loud and easy to follow consider what an evil atmosphere it is attending. The guitars and vocals always stand out, the former shifting between their doomed lopes, My First Thrash Riff 101 or even a little more creative dissonance. The bass sounds good, but doesn't do much other than hold up those rhythm guitars with a plumpness. The drums dwell in a simple rock format, almost like Danzig, but once again that is what this requires...nothing too technical to force its way past the rest. All the eerie segues and chants seem as if they're almost randomly placed into tracks like "The Cross Burns Black", but once you're attuned to what sort of experience you're going to get, they work. The band will also launch into a mid-paced blasting on tunes like "Deep Inside, I Plant the Devil's Seed", and I did feel that some of the riffs there felt like bland grind, but at least its worth it to hear Killjoy go even further over the top of the sepulcher than he normally does. All in all, though, it's fairly catchy, and while it requires a certain frame of mind for me to even want to put this in for a spin, I'll openly admit it's grown into a go-to album when I need my fix of the late Mr. Pucci's morbid hijinks. Whatever you might think of his music, and I don't think too highly of much of it, the guy was a one-of-a-fucking-kind splatter metal icon.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10]

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Necrophagia - WhiteWorm Cathedral (2014)

Covering WhiteWorm Cathedral after the passing of its creator Killjoy is a bittersweet task, since this would be the last studio full-length recording by what is his best known project, Necrophagia, or at least the one he poured the most sweat and blood into for over three decades. My history with this material is more often miss than hit, I've long admired what he was going for but just never thought the balance of the grisly death/thrashing and cult horror aesthetics was ever perfected. Killjoy was never concerned much with strict musical evolution when it came to nuance or proficiency, the riffs you find here are hardly more complex or unique than what he was putting out in the 80s, and that is both a boon and a curse with the material on this swansong.

WhiteWorm Cathedral is possibly his best produced Necrophagia album, with a huge, plodding, and direct sound that fully embraces its simplicity. The riffs throughout the entire album are very basic, slow or mid paced thrash riffs with a bit of groove metal or doom in spots. It's not exactly laconic or boring, but when the speed picks up, as in "Elder Things", some of the personality is lost until you hit that breakdown. And that's really what this album is about...chugging, heavy as fuck rhythm guitars that won't let you stop moshing unless you've heard all the patterns before a thousand times and don't really care much about that. Guilty as charged on that count. Sure, I found my head slowly bobbing to some of the charnel grooves, but even when I got into the swing of things I just never felt rewarded with some amazing transition, chorus or elevation to what was happening. It's not exactly samey or redundant in terms of how the riffs are put together, there is some variation throughout, but they just never seem to hit an interesting chord progression, they just belt you across the jaw with what you'd expect, and in a way I feel like the strong sound quality here was partly wasted.

The samples, organs and other 'horror' effects are sparse but tastefully executed right behind the pump and pummeling of the metal instruments, and the bass is fat as fuck, with the drums sounding nice and snappy for the rock beats they are usually devolved into. Killjoy's vocals are probably the star of the record, enormous, powerful snarls that you can recognize right away, laden with some echo and reverb that really carries across even the potent, blockbuster rhythm section. Sometimes this album sounds so much like nasty death/thrash for cavemen that you can't help but feel its pull towards whatever mammoth hunt is taking place; like in the track "Coffins" where those tried and true vocal patterns and the bluesy segues really help drive the meaty chugging home; or "Rat Witch", with its little swerves towards dissonant mystique among the crunch of the palm mutes. Add in the bells and general atmosphere, and that last one is probably one of my favorite Necrophagia tracks, extremely straightforward but not really needing much else.

In a way, the album gets points for just doing its own thing. It's not emulating other elder bands because Necrophagia IS one of those elder bands, and it's not some technical brutal death metal or goregrind exercise...this music is brutal because it's just produced so fucking heavy with a minimal structure that relies almost entirely on that bonecrushing tone. It can be fun to break out, and it's better than other efforts like The Divine Art of Torture or Harvest Ritual Volume I, but I'm still a little saddened by the fact that, with a little more gestation and atmosphere, this could have been the album that knocked it out of the park for me, and now it's just not going to happen. That said, if you enjoy really simplistic, snarly, growly, evil death metal with no pretensions, or you like the cult films that inspired some of these tunes, then you might at least give this one a whirl.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10]
https://necrophagia.bandcamp.com/

Necrophagia - The Divine Art of Torture (2003)

Say what you want about whether Necrophagia was ever putting out top of the line albums for the genre, but one thing I can assure the viewer is that of all death metal gurus, Killjoy was one most committed to the actual ugliness of the medium. Whether that's a virtue or a vice is up to everyone to decide for him or herself; this was never a band that was going to release polished, wanky tech death albums, or melodic death metal, but instead appeal to the most primitive and then plaster on the usual suspect horror tropes like samples, narrative and synthesizers which fulfill the themes of gore, giallo, and cinematic camp. The Divine Art of Torture, the band's fourth full-length, is certainly one of its most ugly creations, if lacking stylistic refinement or many truly memorable tracks.

Does that matter here? Yes and no...there's a primal hideousness coursing through the ten cuts of this album which is certainly engaging and abusive. Like a lot of bands out of the NOLA scene, or Cali's cult crushers Autopsy, there's quite a chunk of punk or hardcore influence, only rather than cultivate a crust, sludge or doom center, Necrophagia channels it directly into a raw, pummeling death metal. Riffs are meaty and atrocious, with a raw, thrashy and crunchy tone to the rhythm guitars that does get a bit noisy in the recording. They do delve into some slower, groovier, doomy riffs at points, and there are also some really minimalist, bottom of the barrel sorts groove/nu metal riffs that they clog up some of the choruses with. Really, though, while a lot of the riffs can feel creatively bankrupt or flat-out predictable, they do suffice at least as a basis from which to launch the keyboards or other effects, not to mention they are angry, violent and abusive enough to compete with Killjoy's savage, tortured barking, forever the hallmark of this project.

It's kind of an odd sound because apart from maybe something like Autopsy, Impetigo, Slaughter or Sarcofago, it doesn't really wedge itself easy into other classifications of death metal. It's 'brutal' by its own standards, but the riffs feel more based in thrash and punk than the influence of the Swedish, British or Florida scenes. You don't get the feeling that there are any 'rules' in motion, or any real ambition, other than pounding the guitars into your skull like nails. The basslines and drums provided by the international rhythm section of Iscariah and Titta Tani, are very barebones and rock & roll in prowess, which also stands out like a sore thumb among the more technical and brutal inclined acts, but then again serving the style on this disc pretty well. Unlike a lot of the faceless hordes of bands that fit snugly into some category, when I hear a Necrophagia tune in a radio lineup I'm going to be pretty sure of who it is, and that's not a bad position to be in.

Mirai of the godlike Sigh provides the keyboards on the album, and he retains his penchant for choosing lines and tones that sound like they're somewhere between carnival music, giallo scores and prototypical New Age. I did not quite like how they were mixed here, feeling a bit too acidic or grating especially when coupled up with that brash guitar tone. Occasionally, as in "Rue Morgue Disciple", the band will break away into some simpler chugging and melodic guitars, where Mirai offers a more fulfilling, symphonic background, and these were some of my favorite parts. Overall though, with all the special effects coming and going through the music, Killjoy's lung puncturing roars, and anything else going on, I do feel like it can all devolve into quite a clamor, and isn't really mixed very well, a flaw that I think could prove a deal breaker for many listeners.

A horror guru like few others, Killjoy picks some interesting subjects here, like a tune about the Parasite Eve video game, or the "Flowers of Flesh and Blood" episode of the Guinea Pig torture-porn series. Not the sort of stuff you expect on your average horror-inspired death metal album which will mine the same old slashers from the 80s, and that much is appreciated here. The Divine Art of Torture is certainly one of the Necrophagia records with the most potential and cool concepts, but the lack of really sticky riff passages, as well as the production hold it back a step.

Horror-Meter: Seven out of ten phobia-driven heart seizures.

Verdict: Indifference [6.5/10]

Necrophagia - Harvest Ritual Volume I (2005)

I've always wanted to like Necrophagia a lot more than I actually do.

That's not to say that Killjoy hasn't in his own way contributed to the extreme metal culture as a large, he's certainly one of the earlier musicians to cater so much to his cult horror fetish through both his lyrical choices and the samples and intro/interlude bits he collects. He also has one of the more gruesome pure death metal gutturals (and accompanying snarls) you'll hear from those US veterans still kicking about, not as distinct as Speckmann or Tardy or the late Chuck Schuldiner, but still pretty potent. I thought a few of his earlier records were pretty good (Season of the Dead and Holocausto de la Morte, at least), and I also find that I get whipped into a frenzy every time I read about the next disc he's releasing through this band. The cover art is usually campy and fun, the ideas behind it cater to my own nostalgia for both horror classics and their B movie shadows, and when presented with a title like Harvest Ritual Volume I I am insta-triggered due to my love for the autumn season and the once-pagan holiday I so enjoy for both its atmosphere and the activities surrounding it. I truly wanted this to be the Necrophagia recording that finally won me over, but was left hanging...

Similar to bands like Master, or Massacre, or Death, Necrophagia's evolution towards the death metal genre arrived via thrash roots, but unlike those others I just named, the metallic components of Harvest Ritual Volume I remain very heavily balanced in that camp. Extremely simple brute chugging patterns that don't sound like they took a lot of thought or time to craft, with some occasionally breaks into the more morbid tremolo picking we commonly associate as a hallmark of the OSDM style (as in "Dead Skin Slave" or "Return to Texas"). The rhythm tone here has quite a lot of meat and punch to it, but it seems very pit-centric, without interesting note progressions and a few lower bends and fills just to help flesh out the band's aesthetic to a more current brutal flavor. You're really only getting maybe one half-inspired, memorable riff per dozen they fire off, and sadly I find this a common trait for a lot of the records Frediablo has played on. That's not to say it sucks, or it doesn't fit the mesh of mechanics Killjoy is working within here, but at best they only serve as dependable when other things are happening in the tunes, like the 'spooky' synthesizer lines closing out "Unearthed" or the cleaner, eerier guitars dowsed in effects that set up the organs and creepy loops in "Cadavera X".

Another issue I took here was with the vocals. While I appreciate Killjoy's over the top, loudly barking quality, and the lyrics he's spitting are evocative if simple, they often seem far too structured and uninspired in how the syllables are set to the riffs, like clockwork as he's raving between the two inflections. A looser, more raucous approach really seems to work better with this style and would add some desperately needed chaos to the music, for a genuine ugliness. A lot of these tunes just seem too tidy in composition, like he's holding back rather than letting the werewolf out. The drums are simple but powerful, largely just rock laden grooves that hold down the moderate pacing of the songs, but I wouldn't ask for more, since this to me just hasn't been a band about speed, extremity or technique. On the other hand, Mirai's keys are perfectly adequate throughout the entire experience, creating a midway point between progressive influences like Goblin and a more generic but endearing haunted house quality that I just happen to enjoy. But when he's coming up with all this insanity for Sigh, it works because there are also some tremendous guitar riffs woven in and out of the blackened thrash spectacle. Here, he seems like a pylon of pumpkins supporting the stage for a lumbering, monotonous Frankenstein freakshow.

Hell, my favorite track here is "Akumu", pure synth with a lightly pumping bass sound, which feels like what might have occurred if Pink Floyd had scored Halloween instead of Carpenter himself. But then you launch into the following "Stitch Her Further", and the banal chugging of the verses which is lazy at best, or "Excommunicated" which sounds like the same song that had already appeared on the record three times until Mirai's wavering, acidic synth lines burn through the graveyard haze. Harvest Ritual Volume I is an album that wants to be so fun, and comes really damn close, it just needed more time for that thrashing/death foundation to gestate, or perhaps even a different tone with more open, dissonant chords thrust in there to make it more immediately compelling. As it stands, while this isn't the Necrophagia record I like the least, it was nonetheless a letdown. The pumpkins, pentagrams, nooses and crucifixion which grace its cover deserved a little better.

Verdict: Indifference [5.5/10] (mummified womb of Satan)

https://www.facebook.com/NecrophagiaOfficial

Necrophagia - Season of the Dead (1987)

Lately I've been craving that wonderful classic death metal sound: lo-fi, airy, punishing, delicious to my ears. While hunting for retro acts, I stumbled across Necrophagia recently, a veteran (since '84!) death/thrash outfit hailing from Ohio. Immediately I was hooked.

The intro begins with some acoustic teasing, and a smattering of dark ambient to get you in the mood. Then, lock up your daughters, get your white Nike hightops and torn acid washed skinny jeans, because from then on it's all 'eavy.

However, in lieu of what you might expect from the band's name and the album art, we have surprisingly byzantine guitar work and lyrics that do not disappoint. Take the opening stanza of "Forbidden Pleasure":

Taking away your scared life
in many ways I shall describe
suffocation decapitation or twist of the knife
nihilsm reigning deep inside

Vocalist Killjoy of, well, countless projects has a conversational, nearly spoken word delivery which lends an interesting facet to Necrophagia. I'd pick out a few favorite tracks, but honestly they are all memorable enough for me to suggest that you just check out the entire album if you're in the mood for some classic horror death metal goodness.

"Ancient Slumber" progresses from the conversational style of singing to a ghoulish growl that sounds very similar to Nocturnus. In fact, this album sounds a lot like their (IMHO) masterpiece The Key, only of course not sci-fi themed.

Anyway, this album packs enough quality riffs and atmosphere into its duration to satisfy any death metal fan. Highly recommended.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10] (necronomicon, book bound in flesh, source of all that is evil!)

http://www.myspace.com/necrophagiaofficial