Necrophobic
Death To All

Looking for perfection? Here it is. Death To All by Necrophobic. Perhaps I am exaggerating, but I can assure you that if you love extreme sounds, this album will strike you in a very profound way... this is a record that has it all: speed, melody, brutality, atmosphere, it's played with skill... yet it never becomes complex or hard to digest. Since its release (May 2009), I have listened to it to exhaustion, and each time I've managed to catch something new and not deplete its freshness; in fact, this release also boasts longevity, it never gets old.

For those not familiar with Necrophobic, it's a Swedish band active since 1989, which can boast of having created and developed over the years that sound which is today called blackened death metal or simply black death metal. The previous "Hrimthursum" was already established as an excellent release, but no one could have expected a follow-up of this magnitude. 8 tracks that ooze malice and ferocity well amalgamated by the typical Swedish malevolence, all compacted by a sincere and deep devotion to Satan. Try to imagine Dissection, Possessed, and Nifelheim (of which 2 members are in Necrophobic) fused into one band. This is "Death To All"...

It's "Celebration Of The Goat" that opens the dances, a magnificent piece where Necrophobic demonstrate their superiority in writing killer riffs even by using massive doses of melody. The chorus is goosebumps-inducing: guitars loaded with hate follow each other beneath a lustful text, exalting evil and death (you can take these themes seriously or not, but I can assure you that the effect of total hate and "death to all" could not be better expressed). The next "Revelation 666" is certainly the most melodic and easily assimilable song thanks also to an extremely winning chorus, but for this reason, it is not inferior to the others, on the contrary. The record always flows without a hitch, maintaining a consistently high level (listen to the satanic "Muerte" and "The Tower" to believe it) until reaching the last 2 songs: "Wings Of Death" and the title track "Death To All". The first is the slowest and most thought-out episode of the whole lot, it seems written to have a strong impact in a live setting as it has a very simple and catchy vocal rhythm. The concluding piece, however, is the irrefutable proof of the majesty of this band. It opens with an arpeggio that to call sinister would be an understatement, only to then vomit all the violence onto this world. The song exceeds eight minutes, but it's the final part (starting from minute 6) that has an indescribable pathos (and I won't even attempt to describe it. Listen to it, it's truly worth it). Structure and riffs are simply perfect. A mention also goes to the cover, which with just one glance can give a perfect idea of the musical content... which I would define as sublime malevolence.