Two years after the last record, the Swedish blackened death metal band Necrophobic will release their next album “Dawn of the Damned” on the 9th of October 2020. Two songs “Mirror Black” and “The Infernal Depths of Eternity” have already been released the last few weeks and promise an interesting upcoming album.
I do not want to talk around it for long: The guys of Necrophobic did a great job recording “Dawn of the Damned”. In general, the album is full of hymnal and powerful riffs which create an awesome atmosphere for the whole album. The two already released songs show the average of the record quite well. You will hear very nice guitar effects always appropriate to the dynamic of the song, a powerful and varied voice of the singer, and a driving drum and bass guitar package.
I personally like the various lead guitars, its effects, and guitar solos. This gives the music its special touch and epicness to the songs but it still enough rock‘n‘roll. I must also praise the arrangements in most songs. Be it the high-pitch clean vocals in the last song, the drums fill in some breaks or the guitar effects itself, there are always interesting little things to discover that make the songs more interesting the more often you hear them. I like that and you don’t hearthis kind of composition every day. Good job!
But I not say that every song is unique and a novelty. Most of the songs have interesting elements but some songs sound similar to each other and will be forgotten after hearing it a few times. The songs that definitely stuck in the head are already released “Mirror Black”, the hymnal earworm and arrangement thunder “The Return of the Lost Long Soul”, and the title track “Dawn of the Damned”.
The sound of the album is quite good. I have the feeling that the mix prioritizes the guitars mainly. This is not a bad thing, because the guitars do quite a lot of things on the album and it would be a pity when nobody could head it. But I miss a bit of power in the songs. I do not know what is missing actually. Maybe a bit more bass guitar or bass drums. But in general, it is a very good and clear mix. Very nice!
Necrophobic will release “Dawn of the Damned”, a very good album with interesting guitars, novel arrangements, and red threads in the songs. People, who like driving death metal with a touch of epicness and a large bunch of black metal should try “Dawn of the Damned” in October for sure.
