Nominon - Recremation

 

NOMINON - Recremation (BLOOD HARVEST - LP 2005)

This 2005 second full length album from the Swedish Nominon was my first attempt to listen to their music and if I remember correctly I was recommended to get this album and support this band by some other musicians and zine editors, which I was in contact with at that time. Since I’m an easy to deal with lad and I like when people recommend me good stuff I bought the LP version of “Recremation”. And well, I can honestly say that those people, who were saying all those good things about Nominon were right. This band turned out to be yet another cool Swedish death metal squadron. I guess Nominon was a leading death metal force in the underground scene of Sweden along with Kaamos and Repugnant at that time. Having in the discography the first album, “Diabolical Bloodshed”, released already back in 1999 and then the awesome MLP “The True Face of Death” in 2004, “Recremation” was finally unleashed in 2005, with the LP version under the sign of Blood Harvest.

“Recremation” hits right in the face already with the first riff, which opens “Submit to Evil”. Nominon do not toy with us with useless intros, but does everything they were destined for from the very first second. And “Submit to Evil” is just as an excellent song; so old school, so rough and relentless that you’ll get a neckache very quickly. I love it. Obviously such bands as Dismember, Merciless and later era Grave (even the vocalist sounds like Ola Lindgren) come to my mind immediately, when I listen to Nominon. And that’s a compliment, as quality wise “Recremation” really do not stand far behind the classic albums of those bands, which I mentioned now. That is especially noticeable, when I listen to the second song, “Hordes of Flies”, as it is opened by the catchiest riff from the album; I mean the opening part of this song is just a classic Swedish death metal and you just cannot not to love it. It is so catchy that you’ll repeat the song all the day, just for this riff. I may not like how the band fastens up the pace after some time, the song definitely looses a bit of its great feeling from the beginning, but luckily later on Nominon repeats the main theme again and adds even more cool stuff, so in the end “Hordes of Flies” is probably the most memorable tune from the whole album.

If, after listening to the two tracks, which open “Recremation” you didn’t get a neckache then it means that the rest of the album also won’t speak to you. Really the whole “Recremation” is just a constant pure Swedish death metal worship; no useless, modern additions, no over the top technical bits or whatever… It is as much infected by the classic sound as it is possible. Even the production of “Recremation” is very old school; very raw, but somehow also very lively, giving me a feeling like I was listening to the band playing a rehearsal. “The End Written in Blood” (with a killer doomy part in the middle), “Under the Five-Pointed Star” are some other good tracks… and songs like “Into Black”, “Condemned to Die” and “Sickening” do surprise me with how fast the pace is there; really Per Karlsson is blasting like crazy in those tracks. But above all I must admit that when I compare “Recremation” to the previous release, “The True Face of Death”, where only one song really crushed me to death, I can see a huge progress in every aspect. The sound of this album is awesome, and then the song writing is just spotless, blending the classic Swedish death metal with some thrash hints and those blasts… Wow, I have nothing to add that just recommend it to you. Get the LP, if you find it anywhere, and you’ll get also a Whiplash cover as a bonus, plus the whole artwork looks really cool on the LP. So, what are you waiting for? If you’re into this sort of music, then “Recremation” is a must to have!

Standout tracks: “Sumbit to Evil”, “Lords of Flies”, “Into Black”

Final rate: 85/100