A first full-length is full of expectations for bands, because it is the presentation of the their music to a broader public. It’s a matter of kill or be killed sometimes, and even it can define how the band will evolve. It’s obvious that albums as “Seven Churches”, “Scream Bloody Gore”, “Left Hand Path”, “From Beyond”, “Subconscious Terror”, “Like An Everflowing Stream” and others are examples of first albums that became classic on Death Metal, but it doesn’t mean that every first album will be a classic for the genre in the future. And their toll can be heard on “Horrid Resurrection”, the first album of the Norwegian quartet HORRIFIER.

As the words above state clearly, this is an Old School Death Metal release, so the band draws inspirations on acts as DEATH, DISMEMBER, ENTOMBED, and others on their early ages, when their musical works were based more on energy and aggressiveness than other musical aspects. Maybe we can say that they have a Swedish Death Metal appeal due the tunes used on the guitars (near the ‘jigsaw’ sound), and a clear scent of North American traits (as the vocals tunes and some arrangements), but they have a personal core into their music as well. It’s full of energy and aggressiveness, crude and brutal, and besides some maturing is needed in some points, the tendency of the quartet is to grow and become a stronghold into the genre in the future.

Musically, songs as “Chainsaw Death” (a massive Old School Death Metal full of Hardcore traits, with very good guitar riffs and sickening solos), “Injected Corpse” (where the low speed tempos are heard in the beginning, but soon things blow up, and the work of bass guitar and drums is really strong and heavy), “Assimilated Life” (very good grunts and screams on an Old School Death Metal way), “Sick Twisted Pleasures” (where the bitterness of slow tempos create oppressive moments that contrasts with faster ones), and “Horrid Resurrection” are the right ones for a first hearing for the due introductions between band and fans. But in general, Death Metal fans will love this album.

The band worked with Joe Deströyer on the mixing and mastering, and the choice was to use an Old School Death Metal model on the sonority (aggressive, crude and nasty), but with some updates that allows the band’s songs to be understood. And the excellent artwork of Ingrid Helland for the cover reminds a lot the elements of the past, elements that were common for the early 90s Death Metal albums, but with a modern outfit.

As final words, HORRIFIER is a very good surprise as a band, and “Horrid Resurrection” shows potential to become a first step to higher grounds for the quartet in the future.