If you had told me a week ago, or whatever, time is relative… If I were to possibly be listening to the Death Metal album of the year, I would have told you that you’re full of hooey. But you see, I made an exchange with Frank Rini and he took a different album, so I got Necrocene. Fucking hell, I’m glad I took that exchange because Necrocene are what I needed after Left to Die’s debut was more underwhelming than hard spaghetti in vomit sauce.
So what does Necrocene have that Left to Die lacked? ORIGINALITY! I’m going to try and keep away from the comparisons to Left to Die. Necrocene’s Scumocracy is an ode to the Morris Sound studio … and it’s fucking excellent in case you were wondering.
Right away, “(Threshold)” is the perfect intro for Scumocracy, capturing the horror vibes from those visceral Italian films like Gates to Hell and Zombie. It ends abruptly as “Ordinary Enemy” kicks in and wipes the floor with your feeble sense of dignity. This is what I’m talking about, there’s a Death riff here that could’ve been right at home by the fire on Human. This makes me want to run around my backyard and mosh with my dogs.
“Tempestarii” has the tastiest riff and solo on Scumocracy. Guitarists Alex and Joy channel those days of early brutality, fledgling Death Metal bands that have become legends in their own right: Death, Obituary, and Cancer right off the bat. But this is more than an homage album, like I said, there is originality, and that goes a long fucking way.
I love Scumocracy because of moments like “Scale of Grey” and the absolutely bonkers title track that’s going to have those people who like to pretend they’re Sho Kosugi in Revenge of the Ninja spinning around like crazy people. “Scumocracy” is a great sing a long sing-alongen kidding) It’s pretty indicative of the current state of affairs that we’re being forced to endure. Listen to the lyrics, they’re pretty understandable since vocalist Apo has a voice on the cusp of Chuck Schuldiner and John Tardy.
“(Stillpoint)” is another crawling instrumental that sticks around briefly, giving the album room to breathe before the throttling begins again. “Human Lithifacation” I don’t know what that means, but it sounds painful. I do know that there are some sick riffs being fired off. This is just a crushing album and total experience overall. The production is on point, in your face with a bloody hammer, and the killer artwork brings it all together.
“Concrete Petrichor” starts off slow, allowing the track to breathe once again, which I love about Scumocracy; the tempo changes are surgically precise. “Weapons of the Damned” brings some Cancer to the proceedings, think Death Shall Rise and Sins of Mankind era. This is OSDM done absolutely right.
Last up is the “Lust of Us” it’s not exactly a sexy track, it’s slow-burning, and then boom! Blast beats show up briefly, and they make the song that much more devastating. This is the best way to end an album like this. No frills, just honest and savage meat and potatoes Death Metal that will have you banging your head against the concrete for all the right reasons.
If you like those bands I mentioned (even Left to Die) then you’ll be happy as a cannibal in a mass grave. Plus, these guys are apparently from Italy, and we all know that great things come from Italy. So go get it!
