Necromantia - De Magia Veterum (2009)

De Magia Veterum is the third Necromantia compilation I'm aware of, and the second I'm covering (since Cults of the Shadow is merely a re-issue of the band's classic albums Crossing the Fiery Path and Scarlet Evil, Witching Black). This is likely only going to appeal to two camps: those who collect everything this unhallowed entity projects, and those fans who have not had exposure to their side of the fabled 1992 split with Varathron: The Black Arts/The Everlasting Sins. Now, that recording was already re-issued in a full length CD format, a fairly mandatory purchase for those into the burgeoning Greek scene of that decade, so De Magia Veterum does come off somewhat redundant. But the band and Dark Side Records have also chosen to include the band's rare 1990 promo tape, which is something most probably haven't heard.

That's not to say that the material there is all that unique, as much was re-recorded for the split or the Vampire Rituals demo (1992), but it's at least an authentic glimpse at the grimy roots of their original take on the black metal medium. "The Feast of Ghouls" is here in its original form, "Family of Dog" with its creepy, lurching organs, distorted black/doom bass and overbearing vocal slather. And then, of course, you've got the nearly 10 minute length "De Magia Veterum" itself, an unnerving if messy experience which seems like having imps gnaw on your brain as you are interred in the middle of some sorcerous orgy at a cemetery. More sparse, ghastly and atmospheric than even their masterworks. Most of the tunes, though, are mostly unchanged for their later editions, so there's just nothing new if you're familiar with their back catalog. The split material here is just the original four tracks, without "De Magia Veterum" added (it was on the full length album re-release), but since you've already got that as part of the promo, it's not a huge loss.

Anyway, De Magia Veterum is somewhat crippled by the lack of new material or rare outtakes, perhaps from their studio efforts. Like so many fan comps, a more complete package would have heavily ramped up the value. Why not throw in the '93 demo, for example? Or a repressing of the limited 1995 EP From the Past We Summon Thee? Label rights were probably the issue, mind you, but still it feels like just another slim pickings that is only worthwhile for those who are desperate to hear early recordings that were mostly included with later releases. I'd also advise interested parties to head straight for the Black Arts Lead to Everlasting Sins re-issue over this, since the Varathron contribution is pretty good.

Verdict: Indifference [5/10]

http://www.myspace.com/necromantiaband

Necromantia/Acherontas - ...For the Temple of the Serpent Skull EP (2008)

...For the Temple of the Serpent Skull... is not only a substantial collection of quality Greek black metal, at least within the schematic of a split record, but also a gathering of the 'old and new' in this particular occultist niche of the genre. We've got both the (once) mighty veterans Necromantia offering two solid contributions, but also Acherontas (formerly known as Stutthof), who had released their decent debut Tat Tvam Asi (Universal Omniscience) the year prior; and I'll admit, that the pairing seems very natural. Even if Necromantia is the more unique of the pair, with their signature second distorted bass supplanting a guitar, most of the material found here is incredibly here is incredibly atmospheric, and for the most part...exclusive to this release.

We've already heard "People of the Sea" on the limited 7" of the same name (also through Dark Side Records), but as I mentioned in that review, this is the place to own it, since you're getting like 36 minutes of music total (about an album's worth, when you think about it). The other Necromantia track, "Magnum Arcanum", is 12 and a half minutes in length, a grand and diabolical movement which is more symphonic than anything else they'd done of late, basically hearkening back to the bewitching threads of evil that dominated Scarlet Evil Witching Black. The muddy bass tones run beneath the orchestral glaze like a river of the dead; the intermittent bridge sequence, which features harried, light tribal percussion beneath shining synthesizers and deep, clean ritual vocals, is also a delight, and though it does often feel as if it were rushed or shoved together at the last moment, it's 100% old school charm.

And yet, "Magnum Arcanum" is not the leviathan of this release. Acherontas' "The Order of the Silver Serpent" is almost 18 minutes in total, with three distinct movements. The first, "Invocation" incorporates creepy synthesizer tones, whispers and distant backing choirs as it slowly gathers steam into the raging Scandinavian black metal symphony that is "Sacrifice". I cannot promise that the riffing itself is all that different from the rather average fair the band were writing as Stutthof, but deeper in the belly of the epic, they increase speed to a truly punishing blast with some of the harshest vocals on the album, and the result is crushing enough to leave only a brimstone stain where your body was seated (or standing). Too much of this could kill a human being, so it's fortunate that the "Rising" outro sequence is performed with clean, ambient guitars that gently fade out into oblivion.

Neither of these extensive works is necessarily among its respective artists' finer repertoire, but pooled together, they promise an eerie marriage of black magic and mystery that might well thrill the black metal fan who goes out for existentialism and carnal spirituality. "The Order of the Silver Serpent" would later be released again on an Acherontas compilation, which might be easier to find, but Necromantia die-hards will want this just for "Magnum Arcanum", and to save themselves the trouble of the People of the Sea EP.

Verdict: Win [7/10] (the truth absorbs the lie)

http://www.myspace.com/necromantiaband
http://www.myspace.com/acherontas

Necromantia - People of the Sea EP (2008)

Proof that all empires inevitably meet their ends, The Sound of Lucifer Storming Heaven was the first Necromantia album to plunge beneath the axis of quality established by their indomitable classics Crossing the Fiery Path and Scarlet Evil Witching Black. Not that IV: Malice was much to wrote home over, but it at least had a few compelling moments to hold on to. Its successor felt like a scatterbrained phoning in of the band's high-held, unique aesthetics with almost no resonant songwriting. People of the Sea is one of a pair of short works they'd release in the following year (the other being the split with Acherontas), and only a few hundred copies of this were released as a 7" or picture 7" variant, so in all reality it is meant for the paws of collectors and ideally, no one else.

You see, the problem is that, of the two songs, one had already been released. "My World, Your Hell", a decent enough and vicious Necromantia track that is just about as venomous and unrelenting as the band has ever gotten, is the B-side, and it's taken straight from the band's Covering Evil (12 Years Doing the Devil's Work) compilation, upon which it was highlighted as the new track. In other words, useless and redundant unless you've not got access to that release. But "People of the Sea" itself, upon which the Lovecraftian and ominous cover heraldry is lovingly affixed, is actually a pretty tight track, better than anything on the previous full-length. The dueling basses are delivered in thick, melodic, strangely uplifting chords that alternate with choppier black/thrash riffing, and the trough of distorted notes that wind over the ambiance of the bridge create an eerie shelter from the hunger of the Deep Ones (I'm assuming) that this song is obviously in to.

So, a good song at least, and evidence that perhaps there was some gas left in the Greeks' tank after all. But really, with approximately 400 copies in print, it's not all that likely you will come across the 7", and as the B-side is essentially a waste of space, this ultimately feels like another useless trophy to hang in a collector's bin or up on some wall somewhere. I like the cover art here, as opposed to The Sound of Lucifer Storming Heaven or IV: Malice, but there's just not enough here to bite off. "People of the Sea" is also available on the Acherontas split, ...For the Temple of the Serpent Skull...", with another, longer unreleased Necromantia track, so it'd be far more worth your while to track it down over there.

Verdict: Fail [3.5/10] (cold like the eyes of their god)

http://www.myspace.com/necromantiaband

Necromantia - The Sound of Lucifer Storming Heaven (2007)

Though the band has never issued a bad album, I must admit that I'm not a fan of the aesthetic sinkhole that Necromantia flung themselves into post-Scarlet Evil Witching Black. Where once the band shelled out for these diabolic, colorful covers that wonderfully mirrored their brutal and sadistic bass-symphonies, they seem to have dropped the ball with a series of bland, symbolic standards that felt like something any random underground act could spawn. Of course, once you actually start spinning the disc, you're treated to an appreciable act of occult, pounding madness, but admittedly, even the music upon The Sound of Lucifer Storming Heaven seems to lack the sinister luster of its predecessors.

The intro is a symphonic jumble of war samples, big orchestral keypads and forgettable riffs that don't really build much anticipation for the rest of the record, while "The Order of the Sphinx" is simply not one of the more memorable constructions of their career, a largely blasted piece with fairly mediocre riffing, grimy rasped vocals and blaring horns that don't really do the trick. Once you delve a little deeper into the heart, there are more varied and engaging pieces like "For the Elder Magi: I - Eibon the Necromancer" and the roiling, heavy metal charge of "Knights of the Black and White Eagle", but even at its most immersive and engrossing ("The Invisible Empire") the writing seems scattershot and unable to match the epics from the first two records. Granted, this is still much of what you pay for on a Necromantia effort, a merger of blasphemous bass and cheesy but fitting orchestration.

By this point, the novelty of the band's approach had worn thin, so the onus was on the the duo to use their unconventional instrumentation to write their bloody hearts out, which they just do not accomplish here. Where the older records (even IV: Malice) had excellent bass riffs and a creepy if campy atmosphere, this just feels like the same ingredients were mixed in a blender with no care as to the results. They were never a band high on production values, yet with the 90s fare, there was still an inescapable charm to each release. Here, it feels like Baron Blood and Magus Wampyr Daoloth were attempting to write something more chaotic and disjointed, but instead of transporting to a limbo of rituals and dark arts, they come off brash and churlish. The lyrics are more solid than the music. The Sound of Lucifer Storming Heaven isn't terrible, but it's the worst of their full-length albums, and a bit of a letdown after a seven year wait.

Verdict: Indifference [6.25/10] (hark to the rune of death)

http://www.myspace.com/necromantiaband

Necromantia - Covering Evil (12 Years Doing the Devil's Work) (2001)

Covering Evil is another of those myriad cases in which a potentially awesome fan package is left to suffocate in its own rot. The Greek legends might damn well have assembled a their various demos and promos under this banner, then combined them with the contents of Disc 1 to create something of actual value to their audience. But no, instead we get a handful of covers and one new song, while the 2nd disc in this offering is delegated to re-printing material from the band's first three full-lengths, Ancient Pride EP and the Black Arts Lead to Everlasting Sins split. I'd expect this sort of treatment for any popular metal band, really, but an underground obscurity such as this one? What's the fucking point? People who love Magus Wampyr Daoloth and Necromantia already have those damn albums.

At any rate, the new song "My World, Your Hell" is appreciably aggressive, akin to the ferocity the band were displaying on IV: Malice. There are some keyboard strikes in here for tension and effect, and some wildly voracious bass lines that fly almost entirely off the handle. It's exciting, to say the least. We already heard the band cover Manowar's "Each Dawn I Die" on the Ancient Pride EP, so we know their love for old school heavy metal is resolute. That's a good thing, then, because ALL FOUR of these covers follow the same train of thought. Omen's "Death Rider" (Battle Cry, 1984) is made thicker and more venomous with the 8-string bass, though the mix is admittedly choppy, while Iron Maiden's "Number of the Beast" is somewhat more natural, since the bass was so strong in the original. They manhandle another Manowar tune here, "Demon's Whip" (The Triumph of Steel, 1992) and I found the treatment far more sinister than the original, but the best of this lot is their rendition of Running Wild's "Mordor", (Branded and Exiled, 1985), which is fucking brutal and classy. A great selection, though apparently this and the Omen cover were both available on various versions of the IV: Malice album.

Alas, this is where the fun ends, for disc two is just nine tracks we've already heard, in a sort of reverse chronological order. "Those Who Never Sleep" and "Murder, Magic and Tears" are included from the latest album (IV: Malice); "Ancient Pride" and "For the Light of My Darkness" (Ancient Pride EP); "Black Mirror", "Pretender to the Throne" and "Scarlet Witching Dreams" (Scarlet Evil Witching Black); and "Les Litanies de Satan" and "Lord of the Abyss" (Crossing the Fiery Path). There's nothing necessarily wrong with the selection, and many of these are good songs, but they all fit better in their respective places than meshed together here, and anyone with half a brain wishing to trace the band's evolution could just do so by listening through the releases he/she already owns. Ultimately, if the covers and new original were released as an EP only, this might be pretty cool, but the latter, more substantial disc is a waste of time and money.

Verdict: Fail [4.5/10]

http://www.myspace.com/necromantiaband

Necromantia - IV: Malice (2000)

Of the four full-lengths Necromantia has released to date, it is the misleadingly titled IV: Malice (which is their 3rd album, so they must be counting the split with Varathron or one of their EPs in the tally) which is probably the closest to a sheer black metal sound. The band still makes full use of their two bassists, with the distorted 8-string dominant as the guitar substitute, though they're not opposed to a good old 6-stringer for the leads. Most prominently, though, this is a generally fast as fuck album which more closely reflects the typical black metal sounds of Europe, kind of like Barathrum in overdrive. There are still some tinges of atmosphere scattered throughout the pummeling majority, but not enough that it culls the charms of its predecessors Crossing the Fiery Path or Scarlet Evil Witching Black.

To the credit of Magus Wampyr Daoloth and Baron Blood, they try quite a lot more with the bass than they've done on the prior works. Everything from insane, noodling solos to quaint inclusions of familiar classical pieces ("Murder, Magic and Tears") and brooding, pseudo-"Rime of the Ancient Mariner" tributes ("Those Who Never Sleep"). There are also some interesting segues of plucking, muted bass that you don't hear so often in the genre, in particular the bridge of opener "The Blair Witch Cult". Yet these are all exceptions to the rule, and a sizable portion of the CD is spent blasting forward with repetitious patterns, that, aside from the novelty of the 8-string, don't seem entirely different from what numerous other bands were recording. When they do return to their nigh theatrical atmospherics, like the closer "Circle of Burned Doves" and its mourning organ flourishes and tranquil breakdown, it feels quite a lot more like the album I was looking forward to.

Necromantia were always one to take some risks, but here the risks don't necessarily pan out into incredibly memorable material. Half of the fun of the band was just how much they'd merge camp with eclectic evil, an aesthetic hard to pull off without losing the audience. They seem to have traded in some of that personality for aggression. The lyrics seem a lot less interesting (with one or two exceptions), and the accelerated riffing does little but prove that a traditional electric guitar is hardly necessary to achieve this repulsive tone. That said, IV: Malice is incredibly tight in terms of the performances, and the production is far more professional and consistent than any of their earlier albums. The basses sound incredible, often indistinguishable from a rhythm guitar, and tracks like the plodding "Invictus" and surging titular "Malice" are absorbing enough that you'd want to check this out if you were curious about their sound, but outside of the mix itself, there is just nothing on the first two records or Black Arts Lead to Everlasting Sins.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10] (man is but a debased whore)

http://www.myspace.com/necromantiaband

Necromantia - Ancient Pride EP (1997)

Unless my present Hellenic adventures proves otherwise, I must adhere to the foregone conclusion that Scarlet Evil Witching Black is the best black metal album ever conceived from this great country. How fucking glorious can something get? Naturally, then, it's a given that just about anything Magus Wampyr Daoloth would release beyond that would have some fairly high standards to live up to, and I'm not sure Ancient Pride passes inspection with quite that level of magnificence. It's a far less substantial release, being an EP, and there are but three new originals and one cover, but where much of the material provides the same, sweeping and ghastly bombast as the prior full-lengths, there are a few boring moments that burden it.

Most of these moments come in the opener, "Shaman", which is largely conceived of straight and generic black metal using the second bass as the guitar line. Wherever the track adopts some atmosphere (the intro, the synthesized choir background) it begins to brighten, but the actual driving riffs leave much to desire. "Ancient Pride" itself is a more glorious venture, with swinging flutes that transport into a prim pagan verse supported by Magus' gnarled vocals, synths and low-end pumping bass line, before the inevitable black metal eruption. Almost a Gothic/black initiative, and followed by "For the Light of My Darkness", which travels a comparable path to the title track, loaded with atmosphere and a soothing, tranquil bridge. Both of these tunes do lack the vicarious venom of Scarlet Evil Witching Black or Crossing the Fiery Path, but they at least they build a nice contrast against the thundering black segments.

Lastly, Necromantia have covered Manowar's "Each Dawn I Die" from the 1984 album Hail to England, and I must not so guiltily admit that it's the best thing about this EP. The track just works so wonderfully with the chugging bass-lines and Daoloth's atmospheric slather, and you get the same feelings of cheesy magnificence the original once evoked. Truly fantastic, and even if this wasn't the first Greek extreme metal band to do such a cover (Nightfall visited "Thor" on their Eons Aura EP), it's one of the better Manowar renditions I've ever heard. Even the sound itself reminds me of what the original might have been were those New York barbarians more sneering and aggressive. A fine treat to close out what are otherwise the mixed results of this 22 minute fan treatise, and just enough of a nudge that it escalates to the category of worth hearing.

Verdict: Win [7/10] (and your glory is painted red)

http://www.myspace.com/necromantiaband

Necromantia - From the Past We Summon Thee EP (1995)

From the Past We Summon Thee is all too appropriate a title for this EP, since Necromantia decided to dredge up a brief, charming live studio performance from 1989 on their unsuspecting, devoted fans. As you would expect, the performance here relies heavily on the bass, drums and vocals, and its rather an interesting experience, if all too short. I was surprised at just how good the band sounded...there are live recordings coming out today with less clarity, but if a few gripes could be made, it would be that the vocals are too loud compared to the instruments. Now, I love the vocals, and their diabolic slather, which is driven to extremes here through the reverb, but they do create a slight imbalance.

Otherwise, this is pretty ace. You could think of it more as a group of friends getting together for a creepy poetry slam session, the poetry being their grimy bass-driven filth, than a proper live gig. You won't hear an audience erupting in between the songs here, each of which is great, but there are only three, and the sum of the recording is only about 10 minutes. All of them hail were given a studio recording the year after on their 1990 promo, and then again on the Vampiric Rituals demo, yet From the Past We Summon Thee might actually be the preferred version. In particular for the eerie, spoken word meets horror noise meets bass flurry of "La Mort", and the sluggish, Celtic Frost-like crawl of "Lycanthropia (Lycaon's Metamorphosis)". "Faceless Gods" is the most 'serious' seeming of the trio, with a lot of distortion on the bass to give it a ribald, charging appeal.

Basically, imagine a circle of hippies getting together on your campus lawn for a drum session. Run them over with one of those industrial strength riding mowers, and replace them with folks who are actually cool, like Magus Wampyr Daoloth. Give them some microphones, bass and an amp and see what sort of ritual haze they invoke, minus the symphonic elements they use on their albums. That's From the Past We Summon Thee in a nutshell, and despite its brevity, it's one of the better live recordings from the Greek scene, even if its not your proper rock star live situation. That said, I wouldn't dub it essential, because it only leaves the listener craving more...a lust that can be sated only with repeated listens of Crossing the Fiery Path or the epic Scarlet Evil Witching Black.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10] (death went on her way)

http://www.myspace.com/necromantiaband

Necromantia/Varathron - Black Arts Lead to Everlasting Sins (1994)

Though the version I'm reviewing here is the 1994 Unisound CD reissue, The Black Arts/The Everlasting Sins was originally an LP release from two years prior. It's also one of the most formative and important releases in all of the Greek pantheon, despite the divided attentions one might suspect from any such pair of artists. In particular, I would have to cite Necromantia's 'side' of the split as the most eerie and accommodating material they've written in their career; Varathron's contribution is worthwhile, and some of their best, but the first half hour of this album is about as good as the black metal scene has ever been from this country, and you should track it down at all costs if you've even the faintest interest in this scene.

The Necromantia songs are culled from their 1992 demo Vampiric Rituals (excepting the tracks "Faceless Gods" and "La Mort"), and its simply astonishing how perfectly crafted and atmospheric the duo can write with simply the drums, bass and Daoloth's horrifically realized vocals. "Lord of the Abyss" is this droning, soupy admixture of bass guitar and evil that shrivels the heartstrings of morality as it steers towards a hellish apex deep in the bridge with spooky piano strikes and the contribution of a guitar lead. "The Feast of Ghouls" begins with a moody organ and then erupts into a faster, blacker pace with more vomited, incredulous vocals; while "Evil Prayers" is a sparser, tribal chanting with synthesizers and whispers, and "Lycanthropia" is under two minutes of arching, nightmare growls adjoined to winding guitars (rare for their music) over a steady bass-line. "De Magia Veterum" is the one Necromantia track not on the original LP version of the split, a 10 minute sprawl of loosely organized energy, maniacal laughter and hideous unrest: as if the band laced a hookah with arsenic and angel dust, took a few hits, and danced about their studio in a dark, Dionysian revelry...with the record button on.

As for Varathron, their work here too is drawn from a demo, Genesis of Apocryphal Desire (1991) which is coincidentally the title of one of their best songs. The version of that actual song and its neighbor "Descent of a Prophetic Vision" are repressed on the CD version from the One Step Beyond Dreams EP (also 1991), so if you've had a hard time tracking that down, this is a better place to own it, collected within such a company of greatness. I've already reviewed that in the EP form, so the draw here would be the powerful synthesizer intro "The Cult of the Dragon", the slowly accelerating black/thrash piece "The Tressrissing of Nyarlathotep", and the gloomy "La Reine Noir" with its Slayer-like ("South of Heaven") melodic spikes. This material is manifest at a natural bridge between their thrashing, nasty roots and the slower, atmospheric direction they'd use for His Majesty at the Swamp, clearly in the vein of friends Rotting Christ, so those who regretted the decision to move away from the thrashing holistic madness of "Genesis..." will be thrilled to be met half way.

Obviously, I do like the Necromantia half of the split far more than the other, so that drags its value down mildly away from perfection, but kudos to both bands here for assembling demos that just feel so 'right' together. This serves better than almost any other recording in its field as an introduction to what Greek black metal was all about. Perhaps you could purchase this and Thy Mighty Contract and receive a more complete perspective, but it would also stand alone. The crude demo-level production works admirably in both cases, and the compositions reek of refreshing imagination and even a tinge of innovation (not so much in Varathron's case). There's a bit of redundancy, sure, like "Lord of the Abyss" appearing on Crossing the Fiery Path, but most in the audience won't have easy access to the demo recordings that comprise most of its play length. As it contains more content, and great content, the CD is preferred to a rip of the original LP. At any rate, this is certainly one of the best 'split' releases that I've been privileged to possess in all of metal music, and there's no reason to avoid its dim and diabolic whims unless you're a fucking poseur and a half, or naturally...deaf.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10] (your corpse is my rebirth)

http://www.myspace.com/necromantiaband
http://www.varathron.net/

Necromantia - Crossing the Fiery Path (1993)

Unconventional and exotic, Athens' Necromantia are not only the most distinct of the classic Greek black metal bands, but one of the hidden treasures in the entire 'second wave' of the genre, if we are to extend that classification to artists outside of its preferred Northern European sphere. Duly atmospheric, to an extent surpassing even peers Septic Flesh or Rotting Christ. Simultaneously refined and lewd, with their fingers upon the pulsing artery of the entire 'cult' aesthetic that so characterizes the black metal pioneer, and yet as the stoic and regal vampire on its cover would imply, fully prepared to sink its fangs into that very same vein and draw sustenance to its own, belabored creativity.

Crossing the Fiery Path does not reach the vibrant, beautiful menace of its successor (Scarlet Evil Witching Black), but its a succulent tribute to horror, and one of the most creepy (if often campy) albums ever produced in the land of the jealous and devious ancients. Conceptually, it treads a path often too broad for itself, and yet the musical content permits naught but vile, life sucking rapture. You've got such a large range of elements, from the hellish chanting intro to "Les Litanies de Satan", to the Gothic piano/synthesizer overture "Tribes of the Moon", to the drawling 13+ minute black/doom epic "The Warlock", that it takes several listens to truly ingest. The use of a second 8-string bass to supplant the traditional guitar gives the album not only a streak of unbridled distinction, but a primitive aesthetic that parallels the pioneering wrath of the great Hellhammer.

The admixture of raw drumming, dueling distorted bass and the malicious rasp of Magus Wampyr Daoloth through "The Warlock", "Lord of the Abyss", or the more rampant rocking of "Unchaining the Wolf (at War)" is memorable and authentic, and the synthesizers are used sparingly to create a haunting efficiency to the ghoulish landscapes the Greeks are extracting. Where other early works in the field from Zemial or Rotting Christ were slightly lacking in their atmospheric reach, Necromantia feels like a fully formed, primal orchestra of morbid terror paradigms, the soundtrack to a series of un-manifest exploitation films set in an idealized Transylvania. From the pompous martial malevolent that inaugurates "The Vampire Lord Speaks", to the funereal immediacy of finale "Tribes of the Moon", the cult-addicted will be almost entirely in the debut's peaks of Gothic foolery and valleys of raw, ripping evil...

I say 'almost', because there is one track that slightly deviates from the blood-sodden path, and that is the "Last Song for Valdezie", a 5 minute bass solo with brief flourishes of ambient choir keyboards. Though its soothing and inoffensive, it does serve to breed some monotony and break up its demonic environs like an unproven ocean liner striking an uncharted ice mass. This is no "(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth"; it's not used as a brazen indulgence of ability. But neither is it even a shred so catchy as that Cliff Burton piece. Its simply a lull in the carnal festivities. But aside from this, Crossing the Fiery Path is rather amazing in its vision and sincerity. Necromantia loses nothing for its uncanny decision to run with the 8-string throttler over the range of the guitar, and this debut remains both grim and endearing nearly two decades later, the best of Greek black metal until their hell-stoking sophomore arrived, wreathed in plague and perdition.

Verdict: Win [8.75/10] (death to all that deceived me)

http://www.myspace.com/necromantiaband

Necromantia - Scarlet Evil Witching Black (1995)

Necromantia's use of the 8-string bass in place of the traditional 6-string guitar has made them a unique force in the black metal genre, especially when you consider how long they've stuck to the technique. That is not to say Scarlet Evil Witching Black is entirely void of the traditional guitars; they are used here for acoustic moments as well as leads.

It stuns me how little this has any effect on the band's hell-spawning vitriol, because these are some of the most savage guitars ever committed to disc. Scarlet Evil Witching Black is the crowning moment for a band who receives far too little credit, and it's arguably the crowning achievement of the Greek scene. The 8-string bass is not the band's only forte, as pianos and saxophones also exist in this negative plane, and a subtle and beautiful orchestration provides a brilliant counterpoint the rugged, raw thrust of the two basses. Magus Wampyr Daoloth has a sinister edge to his vocals, like the frolicking of imps and homonculi about the burning palaces of Hell.

I'll weave an invocation
To insanity and rebirth
Fiery lightning hold my hand
Show me your face in black waters
My worst, declared enemies
Are my most devoted slaves
They inspire me a wolf idolatry
I'll burn them in my witch-pyre

All the material is enormous and evil. "Devilskin" enters with distant whipping winds, and the cordial sounds of a music box-like lullaby, before the raging basses erupt like an abandoned palace of heaven crashing into a volcanic, abyssal maw. "Black Mirror" begins with a doomed gait, glorious sunken memories evoked through the dingy, dual bass. "Pretender to the Throne (Opus I: The Usurper's Spawn)" uses some interesting, shouting vocals along with the incredible basswork and synths. At :43, one of the greatest riffs ever kicks in, a vile march towards the jaws of Leviathan. "The Arcane Light of Hecate" is a ritual, orchestral piece without the metal elements...and yes, a creepy fucking saxophone solo! Unbelievable.

Oh powerful queen, thy the knowledge of fear
Dangerous when crossed, the art of sorcery
The bringers of joy and misery
Thy children never tell thy mystery

The metal continues with the downward spiral of leadwork and driving bass of "Scarlet Witching Dreams", and the hellish, bludgeoning of "The Serpent and the Pentagram". Then you are treated to a familiar classical sample that leads into "Pretender to the Throne (Opus II: Battle at the Netherworld)". While a great song, this is perhaps the one piece on the album that was not entirely compelling. But the scintillating monument to sorrow, "Spiritdance", makes up for this with its ever-weaving orchestrations acrest the tumult of the clean and harsh vocals, and the bass wasteland.

Scarlet Evil Witching Black is a sick album. It's the best of Necromantia, and one of the most unique creations in the underworld magmasphere of occult black. Inspired by its rituals and imagination, it made an amazing companion piece to Therion's masterpiece Lepaca Kliffoth (which also released this year). A true masterwork of Greek misanthropy.

Highlights: the black scarlet witching evil vs. the black evil scarlet witching

Verdict: Epic Witch [9.5/10] (tonguing out my hungry soul)

http://www.myspace.com/necromantiaband