Collapse of the Human Race

In my cd and vinyl collection I found some 20+ bands that have "necro" in their moniker. "So why not write a review for one of them?" I thought to myself. Choosing one was easy, it had to be "Collapse of the Human Race" by France's Necroblood, one of my highlights of 2018.

This is one hell of a vile piece of black/death metal savagery here. After an intro (that lasts a bit too long in my opinion) the orgy of depravity begins. Downtuned guitars and distorted bass collide with pummeling drums and growling vocals to create a whirlwind of suffocating darkness that feels as if you're being slowly beaten to death and the riffing sounds absolutely lethal! The clear yet unpolished production makes that the music does not turn into a blur but remains transparent enough to not get boring. On top of this, the band knows how to build in some variation within the individual songs. The music is a highly volatile mix of death metal in the vein of Disma and Incantation and black metal (think of Black Witchery and the likes) with some grindcore influences to be heard as well. Slower parts come up to break the monotony and it is in these moments that the influence of a band like Archgoat becomes apparent. Another positive aspect is that the band incorporated some searing lead guitars in the mix, adding some subtler touches to the onslaught without losing the overall intensity of the music. It all blends together in a painfully beautiful blast of primal rage. This is a perfect example of how merciless black/death metal could and should sound without turning into the sound of a passing train.

Forget about romantic candlelight dinners in Paris and any other misconceptions you could have about the people of France. Music as vile and depraved as this is as far removed from that stuff as possible. It's total annihilation in audial form and I love it!