Revenge of the Beast

It’s a serious tragedy, but as long as my ass produces only shit instead of gold, I must work and do not have the time to listen to each and every more or less promising thrash album. I am therefore not familiar with the entire catalogue of my German compatriots, but what I can say is that “Revenge of the Beast” avoids the significant weaknesses of their first two albums. The triple strike at the beginning of the beast’s revenge holds more memorable sequences than their early works together. Maybe even the opener alone has more catchy moments than the 15 tracks of the debut and “Apocalyptic Nightmare” in total. In addition, the powerful, transparent and offensive production puts the strengths of the individual tracks in the right light. Especially "Haunted” is a dynamic, sharp riffing crusher. Volker Fredrich, the God of stamina and frustration tolerance, and his companions prove that they are able to perform cool, fresh yet tradition-conscious thrash with a huge portion of belligerence and a solid chorus – and that’s a good finding. Moreover, they demonstrate in “Warfare” their skills in combining silent sections and double bass driven sequences smoothly.

I have highlighted the first three pieces, but this is not to say that the remaining songs are significantly weaker. Of course, neither Necronomicon nor any other formation can really recreate the original thrash spirit of the early days of this metallic revolution. Furthermore, it’s slightly sad that the band slows down the tempo during some tracks. However, it makes fun to bang the head to the riffs and rhythms of straight and relatively catchy songs such as ”On Pain of Death”, because the music spreads lively and energetic vibes. Additionally, it does not lack pressure and so the album is free from severe defects. Of course, maybe the band would have been well advised to streamline the configuration. 10 songs with a playtime of 40 minutes would have been a satisfying shape as well and simultaneously a more compact one. “Refugee”, for example, is neither bad nor necessary, a kind of thrash metal ballad with a tinge of world-weariness. Anyway, these details do not hurt the positive overall impression. Naturally the four-piece does not redefine the subgenre, but it knows how to make good use of its evergreen song formula.

“Commit Suicide” is a late highlight which attracts by its menacing atmosphere and all in all, Necronomicon took care that no half-baked pieces crept in. The entire release has a solid flow and it does not matter if the skip button of the CD player does not work. Real downers do not appear, but a surprisingly big number of crunchy thrash sequences. I am just surprised that the ballad at the end of the tracklist has stolen the lyrics of Satan’s “Avalanche of a Million Hearts”. There are so many literal overlaps – I cannot believe that it is just a coincidence. Maybe Necronomicon want to give us the advice to listen to “Suspended Sentence” from time to time? Good idea, but it is also not bad to start a second spin of “Revenge of the Beast”.

Necronomicon made an honest attempt at a comeback on 2004's Construction of Evil, but it was ultimately just not interesting or exciting enough, and frankly a little too clean and spiffy when compared to the band's more charming, rugged past of Escalation or Apocalyptic Nightmare. Revenge of the Beast seeks to repair this dilemma, and it succeeds with somewhat less than flying colors. That is to say, this is no perfect, long-due masterpiece of pure 80s speed punishment, but it's damned well the best album the band have whipped up since 20 years prior. The band is still drawing from the same well as their more famous peers Sodom and Destruction, but they do so with enough finesse to get the blood circulating and the limbs thrashing out in anger.

First, the tone here just destroys Construction of Evil. The guitars are savage and powerful, and even when fucking about with the less well-formed riffs, they sound potent enough to grind meat with. Volker Fredrich likewise sounds great, like a cousin to both Schmier and Angelripper, his sneering giving the music below all the authentic character it needs to charm the German thrash diehard. Some songs are a lot more effective than others, for example "Haunted" is a step up from the opener "Magic Forest", and "Warfare" has superb vocals over the thrashing charge in between the acoustic segues. "Nightstalker" and "On Pain of Death" deliver nothing but sheer, forceful barbarity, while later cuts like "Commit Suicide" and the ballad "One Universe" break the mold for some softer material, but don't really leave a major impression (though it's bold of Necronomicon to attempt something like "One Universe", and it might have made a curious opening cut here rather than being tucked towards the close).

What the album really lacks is, as so typical of thrash metal in the 21st century, the killer chorus. A band like Necronomicon, with 25 or more years under its belt, should understand the concept pretty well, but what we get here are the typical escalations that don't distinguish themselves in the memory of the listener, and rarely if ever stand above the riffs in the verse sequences. It's a pretty common problem, but since the rest of the formula these bands are using does so well to ape the sincerity of the 80s, why not go all the way? Thrash classics from bands as wide as Metallica, Anthrax and Kreator knew how to get you humming a song 20-30 years after the fact, but I doubt there's anything on Revenge of the Beast that will rattle around in the cranium for more than it takes to listen to the album. That being said, I must give some credit to the band for finally, after so many years, sticking it out and aiming true.

Aside from Escalation, this would be the go-to album for checking out Necronomicon. But let's hope they take the potential here and really bring us to our knees next time out.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Those with fond memories of the original extreme genre that first showed its ugly face in the early 80s will no doubt remember the fine contributions made by its German adherents, whom were very much a part of influencing the later death and black metal outbreaks of the early 90s. But often overshadowed by the prestige of the famed Teutonic trio is the rugged powerhouse of speed injected thrash metal Necronomicon, particularly by the band that they are most often compared to Destruction. But there is more to make the former distinct from the latter today than the lack of an embarrassing display of misguided evolution in “The Least Successful Human Cannonball”.

“Revenge Of The Beast” marks the 25th anniversary of the band’s existence, and although only the forbidding voice and riffs of front man Freddy Fredrich remains of the original fold, you wouldn’t know it by how remarkably similar it sounds to the band’s renowned late 80s classics. There’s no getting stuck in a groove here, only the classic punk injected goodness of being caught in a mosh. Tempos are kept high, the songs are characteristically evil yet sincere trip into a realm of unspeakable horror, rather than the homeboy driven nonsense that many American thrashers can’t seem to pull themselves out of.

Enough can’t be said about the sheer goodness of each riff set heard on here, drawing up images from every great late 80s classic from “The Years Of Decay” to “Agent Orange”. Things kick off with a veritable iron boot to the face in “Magic Forest”, which lays out imagery of a terrified traveler stuck in a haunted place while the riffs blaze with the fury of a “Fight Fire With Fire” meets the atmosphere of “Game Over”. The bruising assault continues with a vengeance as “Haunted”, “Warfare”, “Nightstalker” and “On Pain Of Death” lay out slightly different variations on the same formula, pounding 3 or 4 signature riffs up against a battery of thrashing beats and a choir of agitated gang vocals.

Probably the only real flaw to be found here is that the album starts out largely striving to accomplish the all brutality, all the time formula of “Darkness Descends” and occasionally draws from a similar riff set just one too many times in a row, making one miss the changeover from one song to the next at a few points. But after the first half a little variety comes into play to compensate, at first with a speed/power metal influenced riff set on “Who Dies?” that goes a little more in a “Painkiller” direction. Afterward enters a creepy thrash half-ballad ode to misery in “Commit Suicide”, which features a clean guitar part that sounds halfway between a ghostly Overkill intro and Dokken’s “Dream Warriors”. Freddy’s vocals tend to maintain a sort of 2 dimensional affect here, going back and forth between his signature punk inspired shouts and an occultist chant while making really odd metaphors lyrically pagan imagery right out of a shaman ritual.

The question that will naturally follow is simple, which is better? Having a smaller discography and avoiding the embarrassment of trying to conform to the odd conventions of the 1990s as this band did, or trying to fit in during the decade of Metal’s return to the underground and failing pretty miserably in the process? If the answer is the former, Necronomicon stands as the flawless D’Artagnan that avoided the mistakes of the Teutonic 3 Musketeer, and thus perhaps worthy of a greater level of respect in some sense. “Revenge Of The Beast” is a worthy and consistent new addition to a brilliant discography of quasi-melodic, riff oriented thrashing goodness that would fare well against many of the albums of the late 80s. If you’ve owned and enjoyed anything from Destruction’s work with Schmier at the helm, this will definitely sit well with you.

Originally submitted to (www.metal-observer.com) on January 19, 2010.