### Necrophobic: Bloodhymns

#### 09/05/02 || Lord K Philipson

Another one of all the bands I have known for well over a decade and followed since the start. Necrophobic always progressed with each and every release and it´s safe to say that this release is their best effort. Ever. Then keep in mind that they have always released nothing but solid albums.

There are few bands that actually succeed to make such a perfect blend of black/death metal as these fuckzoids. It´s fast, it´s furious and it´s melodic. No, not melodic as in “Gothenburg melodic metal” kinda way. There´s nice harmonies all over the place. The second riff in “Act of rebellion” makes me wanna leave the reviewing-duties and go burn down a fucken church, much like with alot of stuff on this satanic release. Necrophobic has a “sound” if you get my drift. I´m not saying they are the most original thing since Vanilla Coke, but they have their sound and their trademarks. Sidegårds vocals could possibly be among the better black metal vocals I ever heard together with Caligula´s of Dark Funeral. But of course I pick Caligula as the winner, so does www.googlefight.com : Tobias Sidegård (35 results) versus Emperor Magus Caligula ( 1 070 results).

Opener “Taste of black” is a fucken onslaught, though it´s not one of the better tracks in my opinion. Black fucken death metal with the emphasis on black. “Dreams shall flesh” is semi-fast with alot some Slayer-ish guitar-stuff in it as well as hum-along leads and bridges. “Act of rebellion” I already mentioned, get yerself some gasolin and a box of matches, I show the way to yer local church. “Shadowseeds” opens completely awesome. Killer guitar-works and a steady groove which reminds me abit of Amon Amarth, only more evil. “Mourningsoul” starts with a clean guitar-thing that sounds real neat, but it only lasts for 2 seconds,then Necrophobic completely suprises the listener with more fucken evil shit coming thru the speakers. “Helfire” (I don´t think that´s a typo) blasts away and sounds as most of the stuff by Necrophobic. Aggressive muthafucken shite, faster then my latest fuck, and I´m fast. Great to hear this kind of metal with good guitar-solos and not just noise…

“Cult of blood” is up next. Whoever writes these opening riffs get´s points from me. It´s almost as good as when I write something. Funny thing is that alot of the stuff played by these guys is real simple, but they make it sound so massive and brilliant. More bands should consider that. It´s not about how many notes per sec you can play, but how you arrange them.

Fuck you by the way, just thought I´d put that here.

“Roots of Heldrasill”. This one takes a slower approach for starters, dragging itself from the speakers to yer ears like a run-over fox who´s still alive, trying to get pass the road. Eventually it turns into more mangling of christians. Me likey.

What can I say about “Blood anthem” then? Not much. good track. Sounds like, well… Necrophobic. And Necrophobic sound, well… classy. The closer is “Among the storms” which is the instrumental of the album. No, it´s not a cheesy keyboard outro but a song actually. And a fucken good one as well. Real sad-sounding riffing and some samples that sounds like a swordfight or something. Guitar-solos included and they sound good. It´s a good track for sure and a great ending to this album. I strongly recommend this one to anyone remotely interested in great music. I also recommend strangling the chick while having sex. No, not so she dies, just so she gets bruises on her throat. Great turn-on. Necrophobic is also a turn-on, only in a different way.

7.5/10

- Information
- Released: 2002
- Label: Hammerheart
- Website: www.necrophobic.net
- Band
- Tobias Sidegård: vocals, bass
- Sebastian Ramstedt: lead guitars
- Johan Bergebäck: rhythm guitars
- Joakim Sterner: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Taste of Black
- 02. Dreams shall Flesh
- 03. Act of Rebellion
- 04. Shadowseeds
- 05. Mourningsoul
- 06. Helfire
- 07. Cult of Blood
- 08. Roots of Heldrasill
- 09. Blood Anthem
- 10. Among the Storms