Into the Macabre

Like a phoenix that reborn from the ashes, the new blasphemous creation of Ingo, Paolo, Peso and Claudio is called Necrodeath after having disbanded the older Ghostrider band. The year is the 1985 and with the first demo on cassette, that The Shining Pentagram, Necrodeath immediately showed to everyone (in Italy and abroad) their primitive, occult and devastating power. The tracks on that cassette were a concentrate of fury and darkness, a primordial, embryonic form of black/thrash with a fuzzy and unclear production. The demo sold lots of copies and soon it turned to be a wanted piece for the avid collectors of rarities. Few months after, a small label from Liguria (Italy), the Nightmare Productions, decided to give the band a change to record something new, this time on full length format and in 1987 the majestically dark Into The Macabre came out from the dark to revolutionise the Italian panorama.

Eight tracks were more than sufficient to destroy anything in violence in Italy at the time. If Bulldozer were more Motörhead influenced and Schizo a bit more death/thrash oriented, Necrodeath really brought something unmatchable in sheer murkiness and devastation. What we can find here is the most representative example of extremism in Italy during the 80s in my opinion. They were influenced by everything extreme at the period and especially by Slayer, Kreator, Bathory and Venom. This lethal mixture of extreme styles collides perfectly with the typical occult atmosphere of the Italian bands in that period and there’s nothing you can do before being annihilated by furious proto-blast beats, black screams and massive guitars riffs.

On Into The Macabre, Necrodeath wasn’t that technical like it would have been on the following Fragments of Insanity, but the songs are always well-developed in their fury and we can notice extreme well-played tempo changes in a dark cave infested by crunchy and dark songs from hell. However, this album is so famous in the underground mostly for its revolutionary brutality in a period in which the extremism was in a continue change because many were experimenting the blends of genres and almost everything was to be discovered. Many foreign musicians like Cronos, Euronymous and Dan Lilker praised this album as a very important one for the future evolution of black metal genre. Since this, the importance of Into The Macabre is undeniable but now, let’s open the door of this entrance to hell and prepare because you won’t return to normality too easily.

“…Agony/The Flag of the Inverted Cross” is the opener and the carillon sound is for the introduction. Ten seconds after hell’s unleashed: the constant tempo changes by Peso support schizophrenic black/thrash riffs, culminating in some primordial blast beats followed by more doomy moments and blasting restarts in which Ingo is a real animal for the screams. His sick, twisted and terrifically original timbre accompany us through more spoken parts where the growl is preponderant, through totally black screams and high pitched whistles (if you loved the ones by Dani Filth, listen to these ones and prepare to cum for pleasure, considering that there was no possibility for Necrodeath to use a sort of artificial touch).

“At the Mountains of Madness” follows with some more mid-paced moments by the beginning to turn into an up tempo in which a maelstrom of riffs and occult visions take dominion over our imagination. Beasts awaking, horror scenarios and darkness surround this album. The production exalts the snare drum beats but the guitars are louder when they put out those terrifying lead lines to let the atmosphere grow, especially during the down tempo parts, just before the obliterating restarts. “Southenerom” has incredibly well-played switching of different tempo parts even if the verse is on total blast beats. The riffs are always simple in style for the palm muting but the atmosphere they create has something desecrating and occult inside like few, few others.

“Mater Tenebrarum” features the very first clean arpeggios with an echoing sound to be darker, while when the electric guitars enter, there’s a growth in intensity till reaching the verse in which the band plays definitely faster. Once again the chorus is well-stuck and audible, featuring a blend of different styled vocals just before the growl section where the Latin spoken part is supported by distorted arpeggios. This is representative of how much Necrodeath was ahead at the time in terms of originality and style. “Necrosadist” has a fake beginning because you think it will be mid-paced for the rest of the length. Well, you are wrong because it’s the most brutal and in your face track of the entire album, like if the other ones weren’t already little pieces of hell. The drums rolls in the middle section introduce an awesome screams by Ingo, confirming once more his greatness.

“Internal Decay” continues the way to destruction but this time we can even find some more melodic (in the occult sense) clean arpeggios under more mid-paced parts. By the way, they are just small parts, among several faster riffs and tempo sections. That choice was very important and we can find more thrash metal moments even if everything (from the production to the way the band plays the instruments) is surely more black metal. The attitude was more than right. A special mention should be given for the bass work before I forgot, because its style is essential, bare-bone but also incredibly massive and metallic, sustaining every kind of atmosphere or tempo change.

Finally with “Graveyard of the Innocent” we can enjoy some mid-paced moments. However, don’t think that by this choice Necrodeath erase or run out of violence. You poor human, you won’t sleep well after having listened to this one. The fog arrives through the tombstones and the suffering souls of the innocent speak through the Ingo’s voice, passing through screams and raging parts. The second fraction of this song is faster and perfect to introduce the last seal of this masterpiece, that relentless “The Undead/ Agony (Reprise). The blast beats are huge while we can find also a great, fast bass drums work by Peso. The growls are perfectly melted down with the screams in several parts, especially on the refrain. The few more mid-paced moments are always and I mean always full of riffs in order to sustain the brutal soul of this unbelievable band. The dark notes of the carillon end this album the way it was started.

In 33 minutes Necrodeath threw the bases for a new form of metal. It was necessary for them to play for 33 minutes in order to give something new, fresh and original to a panorama in constant change. The few pearls we had in our Italian underground made history and the same, maybe stupid or boring, question incessantly runs through my mind: What if they were born in another country…?