Verbum Vexillifer

Necrophor is a black metal act that is looking to engulf the entire world in chaos. Loss of society, insanity, flames of retribution, the whole shebang. You don’t really see a lot of these kinds of bands attempting a universally destructive viewpoint (outside of just Ofermod, it seems), and just on that asset alone I can give these guys credit. No fake hell-raising here, folks! But anyway…

On a musical level, this takes the straight-no-chaser appeal of black metal (the icy, spooky minor chord progressions, wayward arrangements and demonic shrieks) and lowers the blastastic speed in favor of a more crawling, death metal-like tempo appeal (without resorting to being a black/death hybrid), like a slathering morass of black tar or ooze. Spreading far and wide, permeating as deep as possible. Think Blackmoon-era Dark Funeral going the speed limit, and you get the picture. It’s all well and good, of course, and it shows that the members are capable musicians who don’t need to give a quick slash to the throat to any would-be listeners, but I still can’t help but feel that the mere jogging approach doesn’t make the music as dangerous as it could/should be.

It’s certainly effective at conveying a dark, creepy atmosphere, but for what it’s worth, black metal is meant to frighten by way of blitzkrieg violence and pure intensity. But could it all be a better product with such an increase in speed? Well…maybe. I wouldn’t know unless I heard it. Yet for all my constructive criticism, this promo does have its high points. The songwriting is rather strong in its own right, the actual performance is tight and able-bodied, and the production is above average, clear enough for all instruments to be heard (the drums are a little too loud, though…), and it really does seem like these guys have a good idea on where to go with their particular musical movement scheme. So there’s kudos for that.

So all in all, “Verbum Vexillifer” may not be the best foot forward when looking for chaos to destroy us all, but it’s also not a bad product either. Consider this an additional sharp spike to your arm-band gauntlet, a promo mini-album to brighten your own black metal collection if only a little at first.