Necrohell - Possessed by Nocturnal Grimness (2013)

Possessed by Nocturnal Grimness has one of those titles which might mislead the reader into thinking it's some sort of a cheesy parody of its genre, but in truth, this project is (and always has been) prolific Greek musician Ungod's love letter to the aesthetics of the early 90s Norse scene, in particular a Darkthrone or Mayhem. Total newsprint style here, in the artwork, corpse paint and the musical ideas being discharged through the cold and haunted nightscape. Granted, the duo's traditional sense of melody and riff choice here isn't all that far removed from some of Ungod's other bands (Sad, Kvele, etc), but dare to step outside with this one after the sun sets and you'll see your breath clearly in the moon's radiance, and hear the howling of imaginary wolves. Derivative, sure, but just LOOK at the thing...it's not pretending to be anything it isn't, and I had a better reaction to this than the first full-length, Under the Sign of a Pagan Winter (from 2009) or the intermittent Where Solitude and Coldness Unite EP (2010).

In fact, Necrohell's latest joins Sad's Devouring the Divine and the latest Dodsferd LPs in constructing a thrifty little scene of primal but well-produced trad Scandinavian black metal right in the heart of Athens! It might not possess the progression and complexities of other Hellenic upstarts like Acherontas or Spectral Lore, who have moved to the fore now that Rotting Christ seem to be taking a vacation from greatness,
but it beats with a black heart of its own. If you've a craving for records akin to Transilvanian Hunger or De Mysteriis dom Sathanas, this is probably your drug. A lot of faster-paced material centered around these sadly majestic chord patterns dominates much of the 44 minute run time, and while few of the tremolo picked rhythms are individually all that interesting or memorable, they at least seem driven, determined and most importantly, tinged with uncaring frost. Like Darkthrone, they also pull off some mid paced rocking rhythms, like those found in "When the Shadow Brings Cold" that will evoke nostalgia for A Blaze in the Northern Sky, but the majority of the material here is pretty intense, and felt like early 90s Mayhem with a different vocalist...Sorg's rasp being a bit less unique than Attila Csihar.

The blasting is a stampede of specters banging on cellar and woodshed doors, clear and effective but not anything out of the ordinary. Bass lines are jugular-pumping and constantly audible, though they're a bit safe in the notation and really just follow the structure of the rhythm guitars, unable to add another level of depth or atmosphere when you listen at a distance. The guitars brought to mind older albums like In the Nightside Eclipse, Born of the Flickering and those I've already mentioned: textured, melodic and not incredibly repetitive, naturally atmospheric when paired up against the echoed snarls. A few tunes might feel overlong at 6-7 minutes, but it's not like their influences weren't writing even more inflated pieces 20 years ago, and I've definitely been a lot more bored with other records in this style. Ultimately, if you're looking forward to the death of summer (physically or emotionally), the snows and slush and ice, then this is an authentic voyage down memory lane. I don't know how cold it gets in Greece, but the temperature in Ungod's heart can certainly fall below freezing point. Nothing at all original, innovative or amazing about this, it's just solid, passionate (or dispassionate, depending on how nihilistic you wanna get), 'been there' black metal that proves why it still does matter even to the jaded.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

Necrohell - Where Solitude and Coldness Unite EP (2010)

Necrohell's Where Solitude and Coldness Unite 7" sounds about the same way as it sounds: cold and black as fuck. Coming off their debut Under a Sign of a Pagan Winter, one should not have any expectations other than the typical Norse style black metal drubbing he or she has experienced a thousand times before this. But I must admit, that the title track here (and the one original contribution) is appropriately vicious and feral, and the listener gets the impression he or she is being chased through the winter forest by SOMETHING, whether that be the baying pack of hungry wolves or a killer in a ski mask.

The tones are good and rich, the melodies predictable but potent, and the resonant rasping of Sorg is nothing to scoff at. For a song nearing 7 minutes, it also keeps its pitch and pace varied enough to perk the listener's interest. In fact, this one track is better than anything you'll find on the debut, and it's all owed to the experienced riffing of Ungod, who has been rather prolific through the 21st century Hellenic scene with Sad, Nargothrond and Slaughtered Priest. The other track, "38 Millimeter" is a cover of a Greek punk band called Adiexodo, who were around in the early 80s (I'd never heard them before), and Ungod does well to transform this into his usual streaming, black metal style. The opening notes are a bit repetitive, but you can definitely feel the punk undercurrent and how well it actually fits in this new format, with a rather 'warmer' feeling to the chords than the Necrohell original.

Anyhow, while this might not be the most impressive 7" out there, it shows a clear sign of improvement and possibly better things to come if Ungod can find time away from his numerous other projects. If you enjoyed the debut, then you'll probably love this, despite its obviously derivative style. Fans of Mayhem and Darkthrone will find its aesthetics familiar.

Verdict: Indifference [6.5/10]

http://www.myspace.com/necrohellcult

Necrohell - Under the Sign of a Pagan Winter (2009)

Gee. Necrohell. Under the Sign of a Pagan Winter. I wonder what this might sound like. I'm going to go with the safe assumption of the earliest instance of Darkthrone converting to black metal (A Blaze in the Northern Sky), with some Burzum, Bathory and Mayhem. And would you know it? That is precisely what this Greek band's debut sounds like, although Ungod clearly knows what he's about here, having also some experience with countrymen in Sad, Slaughtered Priest, and Nargothrond, among others. That's not to snub off Necrohell as completely unworthy, because it does it's influences proud despite the high levels of derivation, but I can think of almost no case in which a prospective listener is going to reach for this above its precursors, unless that person is hard up for a truly similar sound.

Production-wise, this is more along the lines of De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas than any of the Darkthrone stuff, if only for the thick, ominous and streaming guitars coursing through its black belly. Where the comparisons to the latter come in is in the crashing, mid-paced material that the band uses for some of the riffing in "Occult Possession" and "Lucifer's Dominion", which is rocking yet effectively desolate. But these are outnumbered on the album by rather constant, faster paced tracks with layered, dire melodic textures to them that conjure up unquestionable levels of darkness, just not enough that the listener is ever emotionally scarred. A song like "Kingdom of Sonoma" sets itself up beautifully with its opening overture of ice-tinged guitar chords, but then sinks into predictable rhythms and familiar structures. Some of the tracks, though, like "Satanic Conspiracy" simply have nothing interesting about them, even if they are competent enough executions in the form.

The vocalist, Sorg has a pretty voluminous, if unoriginal tone which soars efficiently over the music, and the mix of the instruments is extremely tight. Aesthetically, though, Under the Sign of a Pagan Winter feels too much like another also-ran of the 21st century Greek scene, which seems to value Norway-worship above the foundation laid out by Greek bands like Varathron or Rotting Christ. Does the world really need another Under a Funeral Moon? Under the Sign of the Black Mark? Under Ein Bloodraud Maane? Necrohell seems to believe so, and thus they never really to climb out of such secure company and easy categorization. Under the Sign of a Pagan Winter certainly sounds a little more audibly balanced than its predecessors, which comes with the natural chronology of studio advancements, but creatively it splashes around in the slush-filled footprints of its influences without ever out-riffing them, another baseline black metal experience content with sloppy seconds...or thirds, or really, like thirteenths.

Verdict: Indifference [6.25/10]

http://www.myspace.com/necrohellcult