Black as Pitch

The discography of Necrodeath has its ups and downs. But fortunately, there are definitely more highlights than lackluster publications. From my point of view, "Black as Pitch" belongs to the best albums of the Italians. Even when compared with its outstanding predecessor, the here presented output did not disappoint. Probably due to the fact that the band had a stable line-up, Necrodeath appeared as a well-oiled machine. Every cog intermeshed almost perfectly with the next one.

To start with the sound, it had the effect of an instant cure for headaches. It cleared your head in a matter of seconds while blowing all the daily bullshit out of it. The guitars delivered the maximum degree of power and vehemence, but Flegias also was well audible. He screamed like a tortured animal. Speaking of animals, drummer Peso seemed to be an octopus. I really wonder how he managed the drum performance with only two arms. In any case, he worked like a berserk with an overdose of power so that he could actually cancel his contract with the local fitness studio. Joking apart, the stormy mix matched with the compositions in a very good manner, because it emphasized their violent underlying sentiment.

In terms of the songwriting itself, Necrodeath provided evidence that catchiness and brutality are not mutually exclusive. The breathtaking chorus of the demonic "Mortal Consequence" confirmed this impressively. Based on a brilliant guitar line, it left its mark already when listening to this record for the first time. Short neckbreaker like "Killing Time" or "Riot of Stars" showed a similar pattern. But as indicated above, Necrodeath did not concentrate on catchiness while neglecting other aspects. Fury and ferocity were of primary importance, too. The sadistic performance of Flegias left no doubt in this respect. By his work on the previous album, he had already demonstrated that he was able to take the band on the next level. Better still, he proved his outstanding skills once again on the here reviewed full-length. His expressive singing ennobled the thunderous pieces as well as the vicious creeping "Process of Violation" which appeared as the soundtrack to your nightmares. In view of its fascinating main riff, this track was a welcome change from the musical violence of the other tunes.

In addition to the new tracks, Necrodeath recycled an old song. The strangely titled "Sacrifice 2K1" was taken from "Fragments of Insanity" and turned out to be the new version of "Eucharistical Sacrifice". Albeit this song was presented in a new look, I would have preferred to get eleven brand new tracks. This applied in particular with regard to the fact, that "Black as Pitch" delivered a playtime of less than 40 minutes. However, the modified tune did not seem to be some kind of foreign body and a lot of re-recorded songs of the first two albums followed on the later works.

One thing was for sure, Necrodeath had found their way while presenting a distinctive mix of very harsh, memorable and sinister parts. Without putting an emphasis on excessive guitar solos, the Italians attached great importance to the creation of coherent and vibrant song structures. Although the compositional formula was very similar to that of "Mater of All Evil", the here reviewed work left almost nothing to be desired.