NECROPHILIAC - Chaopula - Citadel of Mirrors (THE CRYPT Productions LP 2015)
There never were that many Spanish death metal bands from early 90's, which I would really like. Yes, I can mention Avulsed, Rotten Flesh, Sacrophobia or Unbounded Terror - they were all pretty good, but far from being my favourites. Spanish scene was just very mediocre. But there's one band, which I think was better than all the other. Necrophiliac! Certainly I can say that they are my favourite Spanish band from these old days and their "Chaopula - Citadel of Mirrors" album from 1992 is the best thing, which Spain has unleashed back then. Originally putted out by Drowned Productions, "Chaopula..." offered a very fine dose of sick death metal played the Scandinavian way, so maybe this is why I enjoyed - and I still do - this album so much. Because it's my most preferred sound! In 2014 a vinyl version of this legendary album came out from The Crypt Productions and I have to say that it was a mandatory purchase for me. And I got everything I imagined from this release. A nice gatefold cover with the layout that is very, very close to the original LP – I like when it's done this way!! There're some cool archive photographs, lyrics, bonus material on the second vinyl... This is how such reissues should always be like in my opinion. For that, I give this vinyl repress honest 10/10.
There never were that many Spanish death metal bands from early 90's, which I would really like. Yes, I can mention Avulsed, Rotten Flesh, Sacrophobia or Unbounded Terror - they were all pretty good, but far from being my favourites. Spanish scene was just very mediocre. But there's one band, which I think was better than all the other. Necrophiliac! Certainly I can say that they are my favourite Spanish band from these old days and their "Chaopula - Citadel of Mirrors" album from 1992 is the best thing, which Spain has unleashed back then. Originally putted out by Drowned Productions, "Chaopula..." offered a very fine dose of sick death metal played the Scandinavian way, so maybe this is why I enjoyed - and I still do - this album so much. Because it's my most preferred sound! In 2014 a vinyl version of this legendary album came out from The Crypt Productions and I have to say that it was a mandatory purchase for me. And I got everything I imagined from this release. A nice gatefold cover with the layout that is very, very close to the original LP – I like when it's done this way!! There're some cool archive photographs, lyrics, bonus material on the second vinyl... This is how such reissues should always be like in my opinion. For that, I give this vinyl repress honest 10/10.
Presentation aside, I have to say that after all these years, I still like "Chaopula - Citadel of Mirrors" a lot. This album may sound slightly archaic nowadays, especially with that messy, harsh production, but it doesn't affect the listening and I enjoy the music totally. As I mentioned, Necrophiliac sounded quite a lot like Scandinavian band, with many Swedish-esque riffs or melodic accents in the music, which are always so characteristic fpr Sweden. But Finnish and Danish death metal must have also influenced these guys strongly, if you think of these more gory, sick and darker fragments of "Chaopula...". Especially the vocals sound quite nasty, Bongo came up with many different growls, beastly vomits or shrieks, but the effect is awesome and gives the music a sicker, more brutal and repulsive character. These diverse vocals fit the riffs very well, especialy when their styles and atmosphere changes from gory brutal stuff to more doomy and melodic. And with songs like "Gorefruit Treasure" or "Necrotic Narcosis", I can just assure you that we deal here with a cool classic death metal. The drumming is slightly sloppy, the production could have also been better, to be honest, because sometimes the music sounds just messy and even have a primitive feel. But I cannot say that it would have a negative impact on these songs or on how I perceive the music. As I already mentioned, I like this album, it doesn't get boring for me.
With this awesome LP from The Crypt, I finally had a killer opportunity to listen to some Necrophiliac demos also. You can find here "Infernal Exorcism" demo 1988 and "Visceral Fruit" demo 1991 on side C and D. I never had a chance to listen to them before, so this is why I appreciate such bonus material on the second vinyl. As I write this despite the fact that not always these demos are really good. For instance "Infernal Exorcism" is nothing really special, stylistically it's very different to "Chaopula...", more thrash / death oriented, much much more primitive and obscure than the album. It's listenable and interesting from the historical point of view, but not as good for its strict musical aspect. "Visceral Fruit" is slightly better, but again we can hear that they were rather first attempts to achieve anything interesting, quality wise, not just production, but also the way these songs have been played, is just far from what we can find on the album. And mind that most of these songs have been used for the "Chaopula..." Also. So, I cannot say that I've been much impressed by this demo content of Necrophiliac, I'll rather treat it as a nice bonus, bot necessarily something really worth to listen to. Nevertheless, a fine vinyl reissue from The Crypt, definitely nice to have it in my collection!!
Standout tracks: "Gorefruit Treasure", "Necrotic Narcosis", "Depressed in Crimson Climax", "Image Control In Biosphere of Unreal"
Final rate: 75/100
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