Necrot - The Labyrinth

NECROT - The Labyrinth (TANKCRIMES - CD 2016)

I have to say that the current death metal scene in the USofA is truly exciting and maybe even the best since the great times of late 80’s / early 90’s. The number of killer acts nowadays is so great that it’s almost impossible to keep up with everything. Necrot is one of my favourite acts out there now, with an impressive catalogue filled with brilliant demos and two fantastic albums. But damn, how can this band be useless if it gathers people from other killer acts, such as Mortuous and Vastum? It just has to be good, right?  

What I like about Necrot is that they went through a great path of three demos before unleashing their first full length “Blood Offerings”. It has somehow become a rarity nowadays for bands to even do one demo sometimes, as they rush so much to do the debut album. Which is something I cannot understand, it’s almost against the old traditions of demo recording. Three demo background is almost like a perversion! Anyway, here is a killer compilation titled “The Labyrinth”, which gathers all these Necrot demos on one CD and LP. And it is a fantastic set, believe me. It's even better when you realize that none of these songs ended up on the first album – quite unusual thing, to be honest, but it can tell you how productive Necrot has been. 

With these three demos, you could tell that their death metal was solid and impressive right from the beginning. And more so, it was just getting better and better with every new recording, bringing more lethal riffs and developing songwriting and production. One thing is the same every time – the heaviness and massive, crushing character of their riffage is always there. Sure, these two songs from the first self-titled demo ("Consume Control" and "Contagious Pain") may feel a bit forgettable at the first hearing, but I think that they are great anyway, especially when you realize they came from a completely new band. "Into The Labyrinth” demo is a nice step forward for Necrot though and contains three really massive songs. They have everything – slower, gloomy parts, as well as fast, intense fragments. There's even a small dose of melody and I can tell that the music is a bit memorable, almost in the Finnish death metal classic way, alike to Abhorrence. But there are influences also from other legendary bands, from old Carcass to Bolt Thrower... Oh, you will scream in spasms when you hear that demo, believe me! 

And there’s the third demo "The Abyss" yet to come! It feels a bit more straight forward, and especially when you compare it to the first demo you can realize how quickly Necrot was developing and just getting better and more interesting. It's all your filthy, obscure death metal. I suppose that stylistically songs from the third demo are closer to the classic US death metal, and they are sweet as human meat, yeah! I listen to them with great pleasure and for sure I can see that the background Necrot did before the first album was more than just solid. Full support. 

Verdict: 80/100