Necrotic

There is neither any nebulous or mystic aspect of this release, rather a formation of humus that surrounds this output by the Norwegian band. With music strikingly akin to Darkthrone or Mayhem or tons of other bands in the underground it fails to stand out in any meaningful way. Be it the sound, the riffs and the atmosphere all feel like they have been taken from some other place and better at that. Originality is missing and that on a larger scale.

Yet it is not a bad release. There is a good amount of intensity and nice ideas can be spotted here and there. What it lacks is something that would make it stand out from what countless other projects have to offer. No, a good production alone will not spark some interest or make fans go wild. Also an overall limitation in terms of facets and variation in terms of the tempo of the music is anything but an argument in favour of Necrotic.

An icy sound, a focus on rather fast played black metal and a good amount of vocals make up the basic characteristics. It would not be too far-fetched to throw a reference to Dark Funeral in as well. Ten years ago – prior to the release date of course – Nebular Mystic might have been able to spark some interest, but considering the amount of release that have seen the surface since and how the black metal scene has been bloated by an intolerable amount of projects, they find it considerably challenging to stand out in any meaningful way. This 2005 output is simply too nice and too much of the standard to spark some interest. You can listen to it, you can enjoy it, but you will find it difficult to actually recall anything of it.