Genre: Death/Black Metal
Label: Season of Mist
Date of Release: June 7, 2013
FIENDISH BLACKENED DEATH
Necronomicon is a death metal group that doesn't look to show much mercy to its listeners. Established in 1991 from Montreal, Quebec, this deadly trio released a few full-length albums whilst switching from label to label. They released their first one, "Pharoah of Gods," in 1999 under Hypnotic Records, then "The Sacred Medicines" in 2003 under Unique Leader and Skyscraper, and afterwards their third release, "The Return of the Witch" in 2010 under Napalm Records. This time around, they would be under Season Of Mist where bands such as SepticFlesh and Rotting Christ are signed to, and unleash their fourth album in 2013 called "Rise of the Elder Ones."
The band's musicianship is showcased rather solidly in this effort. For starters, the vocals are aggressive and raw, fitting great into the rest of the dark and brutal instrumentation. In regards to that, the guitars are played off quite well. They perform some great and punchy riffs and melodies, such as in the explosive beginning of the album's intro track "Resurrected." Though they tend to noodle with the solos, such as in the ending of "From Beyond," they are done decently. The percussion does hold up as well, but it appears to be quite reliant on blast beats, and could use some more variety to be a more captivating element. Nonetheless, the instrumentation in this album plays its role quite nicely.
The mixing, like the musicianship, is decent, but it certainly isn't flawless, either. To start off, it does allow some atmosphere into the music, and it also makes the instruments sound crisp and distinct from each other to avoid an over-blended sound. However, there are plenty of times where it does sound a bit too plastic and lacking in resonance, especially in the faster-paced segments. The instruments tend to sound a tad flat, and it is a bit distracting from the album's enjoyment. In spite of that flaw, though the production is on the solid side nonetheless.
As suggested by the album's fiery cover artwork, along with the band's moniker, "Rise of the Elder Ones" is a slab of destructive death metal with tinges of black metal. As it turns out, the music comes out as somewhat of a mixed bag. On one hand, there are a few issues that the songs themselves unfortunately succumb to. Firstly, the music overall does tend to get repetitive, whether it be between the tracks or within the tracks' structures themselves. For an example, the tracks "Resurrected," "From Beyond," and "Dark Corners of the Earth" pretty much have the same entrance with the blast beats and rapid-fire pacing, and it does get stale. On top of that, as stated earlier in regards to the production, there are times where the music sounds empty and lacking in atmosphere.
On the other hand, however, the album does have good things in it when it comes to the music itself. The tracklist, first of all, has a great sense of dynamic between explosive and quieter moments. This allows for the more devastating parts of the album to leave a larger impact on the audience. On top of that, the death metal battalion brought forth in this album has some black metal-esque hints to it, giving the music much more of a hellish tone to it. This really serves as a positive point for the music that adds up to the record's power. In fact, the best tracks that this album has to offer are the title track and "The Fallen," because they contain the most atmosphere and resonance and are captivating in how steadily-paced but heavy-fisted they are. Though this record does have its pitfalls, there is plenty to make the music at least decent.
"Rise of the Elder Ones" is overall a decent death metal record. It is a bit of a mixed bag where it has a number of pros as well as some cons, and it evens up to be above average. From the musicianship to the songs themselves, this album proves to be a fairly enjoyable album. Even though this is a little bit far from essential listening for death metal fans, those who are really wanting to find a new band belonging to that caliber will probably find something to like here. With some retooling and ironing out of the issues described earlier, Necronomicon will likely become a monster truly to be feared.
Score: 6.5/10 (Fair+)
The band's musicianship is showcased rather solidly in this effort. For starters, the vocals are aggressive and raw, fitting great into the rest of the dark and brutal instrumentation. In regards to that, the guitars are played off quite well. They perform some great and punchy riffs and melodies, such as in the explosive beginning of the album's intro track "Resurrected." Though they tend to noodle with the solos, such as in the ending of "From Beyond," they are done decently. The percussion does hold up as well, but it appears to be quite reliant on blast beats, and could use some more variety to be a more captivating element. Nonetheless, the instrumentation in this album plays its role quite nicely.
The mixing, like the musicianship, is decent, but it certainly isn't flawless, either. To start off, it does allow some atmosphere into the music, and it also makes the instruments sound crisp and distinct from each other to avoid an over-blended sound. However, there are plenty of times where it does sound a bit too plastic and lacking in resonance, especially in the faster-paced segments. The instruments tend to sound a tad flat, and it is a bit distracting from the album's enjoyment. In spite of that flaw, though the production is on the solid side nonetheless.
As suggested by the album's fiery cover artwork, along with the band's moniker, "Rise of the Elder Ones" is a slab of destructive death metal with tinges of black metal. As it turns out, the music comes out as somewhat of a mixed bag. On one hand, there are a few issues that the songs themselves unfortunately succumb to. Firstly, the music overall does tend to get repetitive, whether it be between the tracks or within the tracks' structures themselves. For an example, the tracks "Resurrected," "From Beyond," and "Dark Corners of the Earth" pretty much have the same entrance with the blast beats and rapid-fire pacing, and it does get stale. On top of that, as stated earlier in regards to the production, there are times where the music sounds empty and lacking in atmosphere.
On the other hand, however, the album does have good things in it when it comes to the music itself. The tracklist, first of all, has a great sense of dynamic between explosive and quieter moments. This allows for the more devastating parts of the album to leave a larger impact on the audience. On top of that, the death metal battalion brought forth in this album has some black metal-esque hints to it, giving the music much more of a hellish tone to it. This really serves as a positive point for the music that adds up to the record's power. In fact, the best tracks that this album has to offer are the title track and "The Fallen," because they contain the most atmosphere and resonance and are captivating in how steadily-paced but heavy-fisted they are. Though this record does have its pitfalls, there is plenty to make the music at least decent.
"Rise of the Elder Ones" is overall a decent death metal record. It is a bit of a mixed bag where it has a number of pros as well as some cons, and it evens up to be above average. From the musicianship to the songs themselves, this album proves to be a fairly enjoyable album. Even though this is a little bit far from essential listening for death metal fans, those who are really wanting to find a new band belonging to that caliber will probably find something to like here. With some retooling and ironing out of the issues described earlier, Necronomicon will likely become a monster truly to be feared.
Score: 6.5/10 (Fair+)
