The Eye of Terror

Necrophor's first demo, "Verbum Vexillifer", flirted with a few good ideas while all the while keeping its own mayhemic onslaught shielded behind a mid-paced plunder. But as I (may have) said in said demo's review, it's nothing to give the band any flak over, for more often than not first-run recordings, demo-based or otherwise, could be little more than trying out various ideas and sounds, seeing what works, and using that as your main focus from here on out. That said, it was my hope that "Exterminatus", the third such demo down the line, would have shot for that approach, but instead I got a better understanding of a more methodical take on black metal, which was fine for what it was yet I expected, or maybe even hoped for, more.

A year after "Verbum..." was released, the 'phor fellas gave unto us "The Eye of Terror", their second demo, and if nothing else this can be seen as a further tightening of their specific path and sound as opposed to full-on broadening. But that said, that's not to give any undue condemnation as one could consider this a a few more steps in a honing of a craft. Things are still set to the same tempo, still dense and semi-deathly in tone and hue, but a bit better in the long run than before (and even after). What it lacks in intensity and a brutal nature, it makes up for for having a stronger sense of musicianship and a genuinely dark atmosphere about it; in certain contexts the material sends a bit of a chill down your spine as if you're expecting interstellar horrors to descend upon you raining chaos in their wake. If nothing else, that alone saves this; were this to have done with any other sound with a lacking of dynamic vigor this would have been a chore to sit through, and I do not recall feeling almost pressured to finish this all that often.

Yet for what it's worth "Eyes..." still has its own merits and virtues shining through its more limiting aspects. The presentation is richer and tighter than before, the production values are clean if a bit murky, and when it all comes together it's a fine and nasty little listen that shows, at the very least, some significant growth and grasp of how to work mid-paced black metal with a slight deathly twinge. Now that said, I didn't expect a big leap into newfound experimentation or influence, so at the very least one would walk away from this with some level of appreciation and enjoyment for what was, in the end, a decent-bordering-on-good demo recording with a sound that still needed more improvement than what was presented. But if that's the worst of it, then it really isn't that bad. Unless you're looking further into it than you really should.

All in all "The Eyes of Terror" is a single step up on Necrophor's own respective musical level, and if given enough time (maybe an extra year or so) their eventual first-run full-length could be something to really light the heavenly skies with. Their time is to come, that much is for sure...it's just a matter of when and how much on their part.