NEKROMANT release a new album which is the mutant offspring of classic heavy metal and the newer breed of doom metal, with a slice of speed on the side proving they have worked relentlessly hard on building this unique sound which has become "The Nekromant Lives". The Swedish three-piece are determined to succeed, with this their third-release the obvious maturity and growth has shone through on every cut, this is a release for crossover fans of the beautifully bleak and the old-school metal genres were screaming vocals, power-chords and thundering bass rules the occasion.

As openers go the title track "The Nekromant Lives" hangs the bands colors from the mast and fires a canon of pure, adrenaline-soaked Heavy Metal, this is quality music, if it was released in the 1970s the band would have become the stuff of legend.  They are not original in sound but, they are very unique in style, what they present is raw-energy built on the classic foundations of a genre which needs to be kept fresh to survive.

"Voidwalker" bares a striking resemblance to "Sweat Leaf", perhaps that can be put down to vocalist Mattias Ottosson and his Osbourne style set of vocal-chords. "Exit Spell" and "Scorpio" are both standouts on the album, a more updated sound to both, the guitar work of Adam Lundqvist is exquisite throughout, not relying solely on distorted riffs, his playing becomes more melodic, more addictive the further you get into the album. A juggernaut of rage rolls along in "Wolves Mountain", an instrumental to highlight the tight musicianship of the band, here they flex as one metal-muscle each compliment each other perfectly, whilst the drumming of Joakim Olsson is impressive to say the least.

"For The End" is an impressive raw-chug of Metal, melodic throughout including the tempo-changing refrain midway, the band are not afraid to overreach or experiment with a time-honored sound, every instrument is front and center in the mix, the bass-playing of vocalist Ottosson really comes into its own here and dominates the song. With a feedback leak the closer begins, an extension of the previous song, again some complicated tempo changes and shredding on-top of that pumping rhythm section, "We Want You Dead" finishes the album as it started, loud and direct.

The album is a massive display of power across its nine-tracks, with a festival of riffs which never falls down into the sound territory of monotony or even tedious, instead, the dominating power of Adam Lundqvist guitar drives each song forward, this approach, whilst extremely hard to make work, is the meat on the bones of NEKROMANT.