Necrocene - Detrimental Paratomy
“I Need it Real, Genuine, and Ugly.”
Written by Big Bear Buchko

I came up in the final era of the physical media demo. We’d hand out stacks of burned c.d.’s when we could afford them, but what we accomplished more frequently was going into record stores, taking the free cass-ingles other bands had distributed through their record labels, putting Scotch tape over the re-record blockers on the top, and… well, re-recording our stuff over theirs. It became a challenge, at times; twerking a 4-minute song of ours to fit on the 3:20-long cassette that, say, Owl City or Finger Eleven had “given” us. It was clunky, it was lo-fi, and it was genuine. And in-between the years of 1996 and 2007, we’d released between eighty and ninety of these piss-poor quality demos, most of which have never resurfaced after leaving our hands.

Because of this nostalgia I find for a once more-promising and excitable time, there is still a very real piece of me that loves the mono-style, un-technical sound of original hard-rock bands. I don’t need the Phil Spector “wall of sound” for Deathly Dan’s Den of Demonic Demon Dolls. I don’t need gargle bargle in crystal clear 4k hi-def quality. I need it real, genuine, and ugly. Which is why the first note in my inaugural listening of Detrimental Paratomy by Necrocene says “this sounds like shit and I love it…” I wouldn’t be surprised to find out this was recorded in a small, personal studio somewhere, with GaragePro and Audacity Free for mixing, because the “we-tried-our-best” quality is ever-present and fucking endearing for me.

Right out of the gate, “Planned Obsolescence” is a messy, sloggy trip down Old Punk and Thrash Metal lane. I’m struck less by the impact of the material and more by the antiquated sound of the recording, and as we move on into “Embryonic Epilogue,” I can’t help but be impressed by how tight the band comes across in their changes. You may not be able to accurately dissect one instrument from another, but the synchronicity of the mish mash is evident. Necrocene isn’t here to sell stadium seats. They’re here to be loud and ugly. And I like that.

The third song of the penta-project is called “The Age of Death and Extinction,” and the only notes I have on this one are because I’m an asshole. “The Age of Death. The Age of Extinction. What is “extinction?” A bunch of death. So, this is…

“The Age of Death and Death.”

“The Age of Death and More Death.”

“The Age of Death and Even Bigger Death.”

“The Age of Death and Surprise! More Death.”

“The Age of Death: Death Harder…” and while I’m busy coming up with these alternate titles, the song ends and I realize I haven’t listened to a bit of it. Great. Now it’s “The Age of Death and Bigger More Extreme Even Extra Death Too Much Death for One Death to Death” – the re-listening.

“Wars Against the World” (I continued on from the “Death” song, as the very word had started to lose all meaning) is a great example of Necrocene going big for the record. This is their atmospheric jam – heavy reverb, early Slayer harmonics, and it’s fun. It quickly jumps back into the punky ol’ thrash metal of old, but it sets a tone. It’s also the first time I was aware of a bass player in the fold, as most of the other tracks had kind of Jason Newsted-ed it out of the low end. The breakdown in the bridge gives a solid reminiscence to the haunting aura similar to Cradle of Filth, before we go right back into the fray and end hard.

Necrocene probably isn’t a band you’d go out of your way to see live. For the most part, if you were to pick this album up in a record store somewhere, you’d probably give it a listen through once and file it away with the other “well, it wasn’t terrible” bands of your collection. However, for old metal-heads, people like me, there would be a prominent nostalgia for the hideous and sweaty bands that we grew up with in long-torn-down venues. We might even give the mosh pit a revisit, though that’d probably be a mistake. I’d check out Necrocene for that reason alone.

It's a fine record.

Real, genuine, and ugly. Just how I like it.