Necrosis - Acta Sanctorum

NECROSIS - Acta Sanctorum (BLACK MARK - CD 1995)

Every now and then I see people throwing posts about the so called forgotten gems or jewels from the 90's or early 00's, which means albums that not many people cared about at the time of their release, but which some years later started to get a little bit more or a lot more attention. I quite hesitate about describing every little known old album as a gem or classic, because many of them are simply mediocre. But there are actually some albums, which did deserve more recognition and bigger status. I am not quite sure if Rhode Island based Necrosis with their only album "Acta Sanctorum" from 1995 goes into that category, they probably don't, but I really have to say that they recorded a fine album and it is a shame that it's so underrated and simply forgotten. What were the reasons for such a small recognition "Acta Sanctorum" got? Well, in 1995 death metal, even US death metal, just wasn't in the centre of attention anymore, not many people really cared for it, especially big labels and magazines. Even many old death metal bands went away from their original sound and started to search for something new in order to survive. They called it (fuckin) progression. Necrosis recorded their album for Black Mark, which wasn't a bad label, they had many great bands, but this album was released four or five years too late, nothing more than that.

But it is still a fine and solid slab of brutal death metal, in the very typical American vein. If I wasn't told that it's a US band, I would simply guess they have to be from Florida and be somehow connected with Malevolent Creation, Resurrection, Solstice or Diabolic, so alike is their sound and style. Rhode Island isn't Florida, but the similarities are there, obviously! You can easily imagine now what Necrosis music is like, how their vicious, brutal, but kind of thrashing riffs sound like, what is the feeling of the music and its dark atmosphere... Despite its faults, like the unoriginality and not the best production (I especially dislike the drums sounds, mainly in first songs, where they sound like a drum machine... and who knows, maybe it is a machine, even though can could find the mighty Aantar Lee Coates in the line up), Necrosis still had a lot to offer and I definitely enjoy this album. When played loud, it bursts with brutal, ferocious energy that erupts in every song with these heavy, chunky riffs. There's enough of that thrashing intensity, but you'll find here also some slower riffs, which sound awesome, especially in such “Messiah Complex” and "Crown of Thorns", which alone is a near eight minutes long epic. "Acta Sanctorum" is only half an hour long, so it's a perfect timing for such an intense death metal tornado, you could then easily play this album several times in a row and just enjoy it. 

But I send a brutal kick in face to the person, who designed the booklet - who the hell would want to put lyrics on such a colourful background, making them basically completely unreadable?! What a jerk.

Standout tracks: “Psalm of Sorrow”, “Crown of Thorns”

Verdict: 80/100