Sweden and its Nordic cousins are usually synonymous with serious Black Metal, the kind of music that strips you down, takes you into a forest and give you a painfully righteous ritualistic beating with a long pointy stick. NECROPHOR are a band that try to do this and sadly miss the mark.  Sure, they can lead you into the woods and even put on a scary mask or two but they essentially fail to deliver on the beating.

And adamant, I like a good beating.

"The Eye Of Terror" is their second release since forming in 2013 and it is laden with a sense of aspiration and potential but sadly, fails to deliver on this hope.  Being comprised of members of Swedish Death Metal band STORMRIDER, you would expect maybe an edge of the brutality that was present in their previous releases but this album tries too hard to ride the blacker side of Metal and compromises the sound in this pursuit of darkness.

The E.P is short and only consists of three songs for a total runtime of a little under 15 minutes.  Intro track "Where Dreams May Come To Die" plays like a modern revamping of old BURZUM or MAYHEM without the tortured vocals that made this genre of music sound so raw and emotive.  The guitars and drums are fairly generic and avoid standing out at all costs.  The highlight of the E.P is the last song "Legion" as it stands out from the other two tracks with a mildly interesting harmonised guitar intro and has a much more organic rhythm throughout.  The emotionless drums are replaced with slightly more thoughtful rhythmic themes and the overall tempo of the song seems to match the intention much more.  It made me think that maybe these guys need to focus more on this slower side of things and work with the guitars to create some real ambiance.  This could very well save them and help to build a sound that is both distinct and interesting to listen to.

It's a shame when a band like this comes around and disappoints the ears but there may be hope yet for NECROPHOR, perhaps a few more sacrifices and the old ones will be pleased.