Description
2014 re-issue on War Hymns records
Necronomicon were one of the many underground thrash bands that didn’t gain much recognition or respect. Hailing from Germany, they never broke through and achieved the level of acclaim or renown as the ‘Big Three’ of German Thrash, those being Kreator, Destruction and Sodom. Instead they stayed in the underground, released four albums and subsequently split up eleven years after they were formed just to resurface again in 2000. The German thrash scene will always be remembered for the teutonic trio of Sodom, Kreator and Destrucion. Three bands that all have their own distinct sound, style and musical traits. Necronomicon isn’t one of the three, their timing off by a few years. This is a good thing. The trio only needs one Destruction. Oddly enough, the back cover photo of the quartet screams punk rock with three of the four members donning the familiar short, spiked hairdo of that overrated genre, but c’mon, with a name like Necronomicon and titles like ‘Possessed By Evil’, ‘Bloody Revenge’ and ‘Hades Invasion’? Screw it. This is not a piss-poor collision of Ramones meets Sex Pistols or something even worse. Just listen to the opening track ‘Dark Land’ and just when you think its an instrumental intro the vocals kick in after about a minute with a harsh Schmier-like snarl complete with requisite clean lofty notes he hits now and then. While frantic and heavy, the track meanders aimlessly until the last ten seconds, but here comes the mighty title cut. Unless critically revamped, this is a killer. Slow and dramatic is the start until all music shuts down so lungmeister Volker Fredrich can bellow the title in a ‘Bestial Invasion’ like design, yet with a madder, roaring and un-Schmier-like pitches. Necronomicon do aurally resemble their countrymen of Destruction alot, but of course never reached that lofty height of thrashdom. German thrash enthusiasts should definitely like this one.
‘…he’s possessed by evil and his master sitting on a throne of blood…’
Track listing:
1. Dark Land
2. Possessed By Evil
3. Bloody Revenge
4. Insanity
5. Blind Destruction
6. Hades Invasion
7. Magic Forest
8. Iron Charm