Necropolis Transparent

The idea of a supergroup, as we've been taught throughout the history of metal, most of the times leads to sighs with taste of sadness, especially if the listener is a fan of the members participating in it. Just a look at the Lock Up line-up of this album, raises the expectations of death metal fans to unreachable heights: At The Gates vocalist Tompa Lindberg, Napalm Death bassist and mastermind Shane Embury, ex-Dimmu Borgir-Cradle of Filth drum beast Nick Barker, and Criminal - Pentagram Chile axeman Anton Reisenegger, not to mention bonus screams and shrieks by Hypocrisy's Peter Tägtgren -the bands first vocalist- and Carcass' Jeff Walker. Any fan can easily start wondering if this death-grind superweapon is capable of delivering according to the weights of its hype.

17 tracks of malicious ear grinding death metal is the perfect summarization of Necropolis Transparent sonic output. Shane Embury's songwriting reveals all his wicked ideas, even too extreme for Napalm Death. The album's artwork speaks for itself, a perfect fit both for the lyrical content of Tompa Lindberg and the instrumental chaos accompanying it. Depictions of hell mixed with raw anger spitting forth from the microphone, fast picking and shredding in the veins of classic grindcore with a more blackened atmosphere, a classic british death metal bass sound, and some of the fastest drum blast beats, rolls and double bass in extreme metal.

All the tracks are characterised with short duration, from 1 and a half minute ("Brethren of the Pentragram") to 3 and a half ("Discharge the Fear"), yet not lacking in song structure and composure. Repetition is not a foe for the band's style in this album, on the contrary, the fine state of the main riffs of the majority of the album enables the melodies to stick to your head on the one hand, and relentless headbaning on the other. Needless to say, the band goes full throttle on the tempo, the only mid tempo track being the instrumental outro, "Tartarus".

Technically, Anton's guitar work is to the point, filling the late Jesse Pintado's shoes with ease, while respecting his predecessor's sound, Tompa doesn't stray much from the -now classic - swedish death metal screams, Shane's bass is omnipresent, creating solid grindcore backbone to the songs, alongside Nick Barker's fastest drumming in his career.

The year is 2017 and still, 6 years gone, Necropolis Transparent remains a sonic stomp. Favorites: "Brethren of the Pentagram" - "Anvil of Flesh" - "Discharge the Fear" - "Through the Eyes of My Shadow Self'

Lock Up is a deathgrind supergroup consisting in a stellar ensemble of well-known and respected extreme metal musicians. They collaborate in creating these collections of mostly under-three-minute violent, unholy tunes. On vocals, we have the caustic delivery of ex-At the Gates frontman Tomas Lindberg. On guitars, and replacing the legendary Jesse Pintado, we now have Anton Reisenegger, vocalist of Chilean deathrash band Criminal. He also adds a mild vocal variety occasionally, providing a few deeper growls. The pounding bass of Shane Embury contributes as a grim background, while Nick Barker’s superb drumming provides a tasteful blend of rhythmic onslaught, as always. Necropolis Transparent, marks the return of this gentlemen to the stage of not-so-underground extreme metal nine years after their sophomore Hate Breed Suffering was unleashed.

Expectations have always been high for this band, given the talent featured, yet I didn’t find their first two records to be particularly memorable, innovative or exceptionally good, with Pleasures Pave Sewers being slightly superior, mostly because I find that Peter Tägtgren’s voice fits this alternate project better than the raspier shouts of Mr. Lindberg, who joined Lock Up for their second album. Also, the debut’s grimier production fits the music better than the more polished sounds of the sophomore. Necropolis Transparent, their third record, seems to follow the same path of its predecessors, being not much than an average exercise in musical punishment ornamented with Lindberg’s blasphemous incantations of spiritual defilement and despondency.

The production is muscular like the unholy ramifications of the cover, but maybe a little too crystal clear, just as with the previous album. Musicianship is knit-tight, especially Mr. Barker’s obliterating skin-bashing. Lindberg’s voice is still venomous and potent, and keeps standing out among the crowds of screamers out there. Yet however excellent, Embury’s bass remains hidden beneath the other instruments most of the time, and the majority of the riffs left much to be desired, being ordinary and sounding pretty much alike. Reisenegger guitar work, clearly not as good as Pintado, has a lack of creativity here that needs to be nurtured if this band wishes to improve in further releases. Being a deathgrind band doesn’t mean everything has to sound the same, yet this has always been my issue with this supergroup. In spite of this, there’s some compelling material, the most obvious cases being “Accelerated Mutation”, “Infiltrate and Destroy”, and my favorite of the album, “Parasite Drama”.

I don’t find it surprising that this album hasn’t been reviewed yet, since it really doesn’t brings much to the table. At least, it’s not something the metal masses haven’t tasted before. It’s clear that a band like this doesn’t aim to create the ultimate extreme metal masterpiece, probably releasing this just for fun in the first place, but having more variety in their riff construction or experimenting a little wouldn’t hurt much. Also, while on most cases I do prefer that an album lasts 40 minutes or more, Necropolis Transparent is a bit overlong for what it is, like a toast of bread with too little jam, and some of the last songs feel tedious, the instrumental “Tartarus” being particularly disappointing. But at least this guys keep on grinding in the freak world, and I’m happy to hear Nicholas Barker’s drumwork again, a guy I think is fairly underappreciated probably thanks to his stints with Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir. Anyway, I’m hoping for a better Lock Up follow up, though I honestly don’t care much if we have to wait for another nine years to pass.