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NECROTUM
Undead Symbiosis

Self-released (2022)
Rating: 8.5/10

Due to the amount of singles, demos and EPs Romanian deathsters Necrotum has released it feels as if this trio has been around far longer than three years. It’s even more staggering when you consider that Undead Symbiosis is their second full-length album.

Undead Symbiosis is an excellent example of how to produce dank, cavernous resonations. Everything about this opus feels gloomy, miserable and macabre. Whether it’s the earthy leads which penetrate the gloom or the guttural scowls that accompany the filthy chugs, Necrotum have mastered the art of foul play without being one of those contemporary acts which swamps you. Instead, we have a rather stark, melancholic air where each instruments seems affected – but to the greater good – by humidity, so that the strings remain tight, the oxygen is thin and the encroaching darkness suffocates.

Even with their faster segments Necrotum remains a ghastly combo, and ‘Horrendous Convergence’ sums up their pitiful, sorrowful stench as deathly chugs scowl with morose ability before the speedier passages come rushing in like gushing streams of black silt.

There is something decidedly no frills about Undead Symbiosis, and yet because its atmosphere is so bleak there’s an otherworldly, primitive design that lurks like an unseen terror creeping closer with every expression. Again I refer to ‘Horrendous Convergence’ which is my favourite track due to its variations of pace, and yet it also features a great melodious hook in there too.

I musu also give praise to the chugging menace of ‘Hanging Above The Deadpool’, a track that instils dread with every slithering, clambering movement, while ‘Wormed And Soulless’ wails miserably with its spooky soloing and wicked rumbles. The faster aspects remain as unequivocally gloomy, right down to standard yet effective growls. And ‘Gravebound Summoning’ continues to filter that rank air through its very mould-saturated contours before galloping like a thunderhorse through the cloying fog.

Necrotum exist in their own soggy realm so as to be able to create musty, mulch-fused melodies that bridge the gap between manky death metal of old school design and doomier expression. The only way to navigate such as steamy, claustrophobic opus is to strap in to a ventilation machine because this album closes around you with vast tentacles of horror and drags you deep into its intoxicating slurry.

Neil Arnold

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