Find the coverage and some great photos of this year's Devilstone Open Air written by our Lithuanian contributor Inga here>> www
Death metal is such a limitless genre. You can do whatever you'd like. It can be over the top technical or slow. Brutal or insane and it's all so good. When we made "Visions of Death" it just came out with a natural old school-ish vibe and that's great, but our newer material has a much more modern technical vibe. I love how death metal has evolved.
For me, death metal should be heavy as fuck, brutal (which doesn't necessarily mean "fast"), atmospheric and evil. If the "evil" thing is not there, you can't label yourself death metal, that's a fact. I'm so fucking close minded when it comes to metal music... I listen to the SAME hard rock, heavy, thrash, doom, death and black metal that I used to listen to 15 years ago.
Stockholm, Sweden blackish death/thrash combo Necrophobic have a lengthy history in the scene, dating all the way to 1989. The band's 1993 debut "The Nocturnal Silence" set the underground on fire and Necrophobic had their first classic with the track 'Unholy Prophecies'. Since the departure of main songwriter David Parland (Infernal, ex-Dark Funeral) Necrophobic have adopted a thrashier stance compared to their earlier more darker days. Like "Hrimthursum" before it "Death to All" brings semi-melodic, well-rounded death/thrash in the established Swedish tradition. The orchestral parts are toned down compared to the predecessing record and this one is more brutal because of the stripped down approach. "Death to All" is a fast record for Necrophobic standards with Joakim Sterner's typical no-frills drumming style, reminiscent of Unleashed's Anders Schultz, in the sense that it is functional but never flashy. Tobias Sidegård is his usual self, snarling and growling in a serpentine and venomous way and new bassist Alex Friberg makes his debut here. Recorded at the band's own Necrophonic Studio. Mixed at Chrome Studio by Fredrik Folkare (Unleashed). Mastered by Peter In de Betou at Tailor Maid Productions. The artwork by Watain's Erik Danielsson is fantastic, although the printing quality is rather dark and dense, obscuring a great many intricate details of this painting. The sleeve also spells 'La Satanisma Muerte' incorrectly, which given the profile of Regain Records is simply unforgivable and inexcusable. Overall, "Death to All" sees Necrophobic in fine form and they are one of the few melodic death/black metal acts that haven't strayed too far from their roots over the years.http://regainrecords.comcomment itWouter 8
