Filthgrave – Necromantic Rituals
3 min read
Band: Filthgrave
Title: Necromantic Rituals
Label: Snake Oil Kassettforlag
Release date: 02 January 2020
Country: Norway
Format reviewed: Digital Promo
With all the shit going on in the world these days and longing for last year I have decided to turn back to 2019 (originally released). To simpler times.
I got a certain pointer this week, in the direction of a Norwegian band that released a demo in 2017, and just last year an EP titled “Necromantic Rituals”. I have to admit, this band has slipped my attention so far, however as it has now been brought to my attention I had to give the past demo a go and as a quick judge, I did like what I heard. FILTHGRAVE hails from their home windows of Oslo with the four-track EP ready in their suitcase just waiting for the borders to open to start storming the world. Don’t worry though; you can still access the music online risk free for now.
“Evil Eternal” opens up in a death metal way with a touch of black; the old school sound flows throughout but the black metal touch comes with the guitars. They go at it in a true black metal fashion. Overall the performance is good, although a bit sloppy here and there. I suppose often that adds a little personality to the sound and something you can get away within this genre. The opener is all that it should be; fast, catchy, and with a chorus, you can shout along to.
“Screams from the Bottomless Pits” follow closely upon the first one with a feedback noise from the guitar and the feel is that this is literally a runner up. The riffs are mostly those black metal walls that I would have liked to hear along with more palm mutes, just to spice things up, but there is a little solo in there that adds a bit to the atmosphere.
“Archetype of the Strong” opens up with a bit more interesting riff which is a nice pick-me-up. It is a fascinating blend of fast and slow, even being a bit melodic in between from time to time. By far I believe my favorite track on here, adding quite some groove with interesting barking growl vocals. It fits quite well to the music and musical theme of this EP.
All guns blazing start with the last track of the day, “Mark of the Dying”. The structural set up on this track is superior to the previous ones and the riffs are quite neat. Attitude in a track rides forth and closes the circle in a true black metal way. And the drummer appears to do a much better job here than before.
I do not necessarily think that each and every album, demo or EP needs to be groundbreaking, however, there always needs to be something in order to keep the listener interested. I would like to think most artists try and do that with certain hits and misses, but what I believe has been presented here are four diverse tracks which I hope later on will be joined by additional god knows how many tracks that will further display the musicianship of these Norwegian boys. 7/10 Julia Katrin
Band
Facebook
Bandcamp
YouTube
7/10: Victory is Possible!
**Please support the underground! It’s vital to the future of our genre.**
#WeAreBlessedAltarZine
#TheZineSupportingTheUnderground
