Sometimes you don't have to be a clairvoyant to discern the essence of a particular record before you play it. It has nothing to do with bias or prejudice, and neither is it a crystal ball kind of ordeal; it is simply a sixth sense that comes with experience and long hours of musical indulgence. You learn to recognise the traits. Like a grandmaster who's has faced a particular opponent more than once and can anticipate his pattern of attack or a physician that delineates a diagnosis from a familiar set of symptoms, there are cases when you just know what to expect. NECRONOMICON's "Advent of the Human God" is one such record. It will bring those pseudo-psychic abilities to light and let you see into the darkness before you even have a chance to slip the cover off and tell its fortune.

First things first - is it heavy? And the oracle shall tell you - sure. The first quarter of the record is hell-bent on a path to the complete ruination of any opposing empire with savage anthems like "The Advent of the Human God - The Heart of Darkness", "The Golden Gods - The Blood of Ages" and "Unification of the Four Pillars". The only times when the brutal instrumental assault appears to demonstrate some mercy are in the brief symphonic interludes - most likely used to clear the bodies - that separate the charging wall of mythological behemoths from complete obliteration.

Having said that, this excess of brute force is unfortunately as trite as they come. The warriors pack all the familiar combat techniques. The guitar berserker, who occasionally manages to offer a few competent riffs and even a solo or two, ends up swinging aimlessly in hope of caving in some heads. The exorbitant "machine-gun fire" drumming - though commendably energetic and committed to the cause - is grounds for the confiscation of the double-bass pedal. Nevertheless, the main culprit that lets "Advent of the Human God" down is the production. The band is supposed to sounds as a whole, but in this instance, it has simply homogenised to the point where you can barely recognise the various elements. The mix on the majority of the record is so terrible that the contributions of the band members turn into a wave of mush with barely identifiable vocals.

The band fate does show promise of salvation. Tracks "Crown of Thorns", "The Fjord" and the bearer of the riff "I Bringer of Light" are honest attempts at manifesting the thematic direction, and take you to the port of Alexandria in all the glory of Ptolemaic dynasties with appropriately utilised exotic scales and melodic synth application. The journey down the Nile however, runs dry.

The verdict of the reading then is thus; "Advent of the Human God" is simply too generic in its approach to stimulate anyone beyond NECRONOMICON's cult of followers. And whilst its karmic offences are not particularly extreme, it is still quite a way from the path of righteousness.<