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NECRONOMICON
Rise Of The Elder Ones

Season Of Mist (2013)
Rating: 6.5/10

Canada’s Necronomicon, despite being one of a cauldron full of bands with the same name, have been lurking in the distant mists of time since 1988, although their debut outing, Pharaoh Of Gods, didn’t see the light of day until 1999.

With album number four, Rise Of The Elder Ones, these corpse-painted full moon worshippers and disciples of author H.P. Lovecraft have served up another meaty feast of raging black death metal that is frantic, tight and also rewarding.

There’s nothing remotely raw or grim about Necronomicon for the most part, as I find their records quite wholesome. One can readily tuck into their sound as if diving into a hearty meal such is the meaty quality of the thick guitars and Rob Tremblay’s deep vocal rasps, but this healthy quality is down to the crystal production which enables each instrument to breath.

This dense quality is immediately apparent with the racy opener ‘Resurrected’, which features some nice atmospheric touches to enable it to stand out from the crowd. I’m certainly of the opinion that fans of Norway’s Immortal at their thrashiest will find much to savour on this platter, because the riffs of Armaros are pummelling alongside those pounding drums from Rick.

The band are quite capable of bridging the gap between extreme, icy metal and more classic metal too, incorporating melodic solos and more defined structures within the often bracing overall framework. Even when the trio up the levels of speed it’s still a crushing experience, but I find it odd that for the first half of this opus Necronomicon provide some rather engaging, pastoral keyboard moments and yet these seem bereft from the second half. I much prefer the injection of samples and an orchestral passage because at times some bands can drift off into the mediocre and so a sprig of experimentalism is more than welcome.

If I had to sum up Rise Of The Elder Ones in one word then it would have to be “solid”, and that’s the biggest compliment I can pay to a band that do just enough to stay above water. Necronomicon rarely bore me, but I’d like to see a touch more adventure and sinister soundscapes on album five, because there is a sameness about some of the songs on offer here.

But I still enjoy the moments when the band slip between heavy chugs and faster episodes, more noticeable on the last two tracks of the opus, being ‘Dark Corners Of The Earth’ and ‘The Fallen’. I can see however, why Necronomicon haven’t stepped up a rung or two on the ladder, because despite the power of numbers such as ‘The Valley Of The Lost Souls’ there is a strong sense of normality about this project, and after several listens it’s just one of those records that ends up on the stack of stuff I’ll rarely play.

There’s nothing overtly bad about Rise Of The Elder Ones, but there’s also not a lot that really shines and despite each musician clearly giving his all to each track, I’m left rather unfulfilled, seeking far weirder and darker sounds. But a competent record if ever there was one.

Neil Arnold

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