ATHORN's second album, "Necropolis," is a dark, brooding, musically painted picture of despair and fear.  The band combines Power Metal with Melodic Death Metal and the result is fantastic.  The concept albums follows the storyline of a meteor that hits earth and turns everyone into zombies.  Zombies are played out for sure but never once does this album sound stale or contrived.   Much like Mikael Stanne from DARK TRANQUILLITY, vocalist Carsten Frank's Death Metal growls are deep but contain precise infliction enabling the listener to understand most of what he says.  His clean vocals are not as strong as his death vocals but they are serviceable.  His cleans lack real range, but they are more gritty than trying to sound like a boy band like a lot of Metalcore bands do.  The best thing about the album is the atmosphere; the band, unlike a lot of Melodic Death or Power Metal bands, manage to create such a stark sound without the use of keyboards.  In that respect it reminds me of heavier bands like IMMOLATION, who let the overall sound of envelop the listener through the use of the metal instruments.

Maiwald's bass is a highlight and key component in creating this apocalyptic sound.  Tracks like "Forgotten Souls" and "Of Pawns And Dragons" have slower parts where the bass shines through and keeps the despair going.  It's a heavy sound but not overbearing; he always finds the right way to play without becoming just another back ground noise to support the guitar. Horst's drums are energetic and never out of place or fast just for the sake of it.  Although his drumming is more complicated and energetic than what you would find in METALLICA, much like Lars Ulrich, his sound really complicates the songs. Spier and Liedke are a fantastic guitar duo because they don't needlessly noodle around on the guitar to create a melodic sound.  The two focus more on blackened riffs backed by groove and crunch with blazing guitar solos, instead of a power guitar wankery sound like early SOILWORK or CHILDREN OF BODOM.  "Cabin On The Hill" contains some riffs that flow really well similar to more modern metal bands like LAMB OF GOD, although the sound is much heavier and darker. The only bad thing I can say about this album is the track, "Born In Flames."  It isn't a bad track at all but with the clean/acoustic guitar and soft spoken vocals, it feel really out of place on the album and kills the pace. 2016 has been somewhat of a strong year for Melodic Death Metal, a genre that was on its way out of the door.  It has come raging back and this band/album is on the forefront of this movement.  If you like Melodic Death with a hint of Power then you need to check this album out.