Many Metalheads from the 80's (including this writer) thought in 1988 that Death Metal was dead. The reason for that was the lack of information on the press (the main focus were bands from Glam Metal, Heavy Metal and Thrash Metal), because Death Metal drown into the depths of underground due many bands leaving the genre to have a greater acceptance due the commercial success of Thrash Metal. Only DEATH remained loyal to the genre, and others were just beginning. The second generation started their invasion on 1989, and "Altars of Madness" could be pointed as the battering ram of this assault, being followed by names from British and Swedish schools. And British Death Metal scene gave birth to name as BOLT THROWER, CARCASS, CEREBRAL FIX, BENEDICTION, PARADISE LOST, MY DYING BRIDE, ANATHEMA and many others. But NECROSANCT was one of those that never found their way into success, and after the quartet released three albums, met its end. And now, a compilation of their work is being released, and its name is "Legacy".

This release includes material from the band's Demo Tapes "Ex-Iternity" (1991), "Desolate" (1992) and two songs that weren't released before, both from the in the 90's. It's a primal form of Death Metal practiced by the British School, sounding crude and putrid, gathering influences from HELLHAMMER, DEATH and POSSESSED, so don't expect from this release something modern or recorded with the same care of modern days. It's visceral, raw, organic and aggressive to the very bones, filled with nasty (but hooking) guitars, guttural grunts and solid rhythmic work. But the energy is very good, and the band doesn't play as fast as lightning or slow as a funeral dirge, but as a combination of both aspects.The sound quality is brutally raw, as could be expected from a work recorded on those days. But it's not so moldy as some could think, and it's not hard to understand what is being played by the quartet. No, nothing like that, but it transpires the essence of 90's Death Metal.

"Plagued Mind" presents very good contrasts between fast and slow tempos (and good double bass technique used on the drums), and "Darkest Fears" is nasty and fast, abusing of distortion and shows very good grunts. These two comes from "Desolate" Demo Tape (only a version of the quartet for THE RUTS' "Babylon's Burning" was left behind, maybe due legal issues). From "Ex-Iternity" Demo Tape comes the putrid pieces "Ex-Iternity" (very good slow parts), "Enevitable Demise" (with some good technical touches on bass guitar), "Necronomicon" (the slow parts are excellent), "Ominous Despair" (where some technical insight can be heard), "Restless Dead" (with very good tempos and guitars, what makes of it a catchy moment of this compilation), and "Undeath Dead and Dying". The two unreleased songs have a putrid sound quality, showing that they weren't recorded on the same sessions from the Demo Tapes, but "Untitled 1 (Fast)" and "Untitled 2 (Slow)" shows enough musical talent to earn them the title of "another band that could be great if the chances were equal to all".

NECROSANCT's final piece of music can be called not only a legacy for the future generations, but a mark that they ended bankrupt, but entered history. Hear "Legacy" and see how pretty good they were.