Epitaph

Necrophagist

It's hard to recall a more (or even an equal) interesting record company than Relapse […]
By Thodoris Pantazopoulos
July 28, 2004
Necrophagist - Epitaph album cover

It's hard to recall a more (or even an equal) interesting record company than Relapse during the last years. It's bands are indeed what we'd call a breath of fresh air in the static field of extreme music. Just take some of them for example, like Mastodon, Dillinger Escape Plan etc. and consider how important they proved to be for the future of this music. Ultra finding bands with rejuvenescent and often heretic material (but always within Metal bounds) that each set up a whole new genre the moment that thousands of bands recycle the legend's heritage in a bad taste.   
The German Necrophagist seem to rightfully hold a place in Relapse's roster since they stand up against conformism and musical stability. Brilliantly mixing the brutality of Death Metal with speed Metal-based guitars that constantly provide dashing arpeggios and mind-blowing riffs. They aren't for sure neither the first nor the last band that delivers a technical delirium while performing, but they are good. Really f*****g good!
One by one, they are breath-taking players. Especially Stefan Fimmers with his bass' solos at times reminded me of Doug Keyser's frenzy in the WatchTower albums( and this is a hell of a credit). Speaking of frenzy, it would be useful to make a blood test for the band's drummer Hannes Grossmann. I bet my ass that instead of blood corpsules his veins are full of gasoline. Who is this guy? He'd probably ran away from a clinic crossing experiments between man, octopus and tyrannosaurus.
But enough with the praising, though deserved. The band's incomparable musicianship cannot margin the subject of every listener's research, which is nothing else than musical substance. Thankfully, the majority of the songs show intense interest and despite the sound's ''dyspeptic'' nature after 1 or 2 listenings you will be able to hold a big part of the melodies, a fact that brings to light the fine work that has been done with guitars.
If you are keen of bands such as Psycroptic (hats off), Into Eternity, Theory In Practice and Death (Sound Of Perseverance era), Necrophagist will satisfy your sternly eclectic hearings. The rate won't be that high 'cause I'm definitely sure that they can do really better than this, although they are already scales superior than most bands out there.

7 / 10

Good

"Epitaph" Track-listing:

Stabwound
The Stillborn One
Ignominious & Pale
Diminished To Be
Epitaph
Only Ash Remains
Seven
Symbiotic In Theory

Necrophagist Lineup:

Muhammed Suiçmez - Vocals & Guitar
Christian Münzner - Guitar
Stefan Fimmers - Bass
Hannes Grossmann - Drums

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