Kevin Sharp (ex Brutal Truth, Venomous Concept) replaces Tomas Lindberg as the vocalist joining the veteran line up of Nick Barker (ex Dimmu Borgir and Cradle of Filth), Shane Embury (Napalm Death) and Anton Reisenegger (Criminal, Brujeria, Pentagram) who need no introduction, but the result is almost identical.

Sharp’s vocals are a little more varied than Lindberg’s, also not quite as seething, but they get the job done against the backdrop of the album’s 14 song, 41  minute salvo. The Napalm Death/Terrorizer influence is still the primary focus with fierce, slicing power cords, blast beats and punky backbone. Standout tracks like “The Plague That Stalks the Darkness”, “Desolation Architect”, “Instruments of Armageddon”, “Sunk”, “Mind Fight” and  “Secret Parallel World” are rabid, foaming at the mouth ragers in every sense of  the classic grindcore sound. “Foul from the Pure” and “Void”  initially slows things down a bit but keep a searing intensity.

As with the last album, there is a slower, Mid era Napalm Death, industrialized number in the 5 minute title track, an early, jarring respite in the album’s otherwise relentless onslaught of blistering,  grindcore goodness.

See you guys again with another vocalist in another 7- years?

However, there’s a point 15 tracks into the album, where my skin has already been peeled from my flesh, and halfway through “Stigmartyr” where Lindberg screams ‘GRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIND!!!!!”, the band kick out an absolutely classic  Naplam Death/Terrorizer riff, forcing me to grin from ear to ear and mutter myself, ‘now, THIS is fucking grindcore!”

Necropolis Transparent is a pure unadulterated salvo of classic grindcore that begs to be heard by those wanting a break from all the so called modern grind out there today contaminated by dance beats, breakdowns and trends. The 17 song, 41-minute vortex of d-beat blasts and slicing power chords plays like a lost artifact of grindcore, dusted off and given a shiny new Andy Sneap production. It rips, tears and shreds from start to finish belying the members’ age. Lindberg sounds more pissed off than I’ve ever heard him, Barker beats the skins without mercy and Embury is well, Embury. And despite my qualms, Anton Reisenegger0 channels Jesse Pintado perfectly, delivering riff after riff of Terrorizer and Napalm Death styled punishment.

Pinpointing tracks is pretty pointless, but trust me, the blistering  likes of “Parasite Drama”, “Anvil of Flesh”, “Rage Incarnate Reborn”, “Unseen Enemy”, “Stygian Reverberations”  and “Vomiting Evil” will tear you a new one. The album simply does not let up even the long songs (the few over three minutes) are relentless. The only reprieve is instrumental closure ‘Tartarus”, a slower moody number that could come from Napalm Deaths mid-era lull.

With guest vocal appearances by original member Peter Tagtgren and even Jeff Walker of Carcass,  not only is Necropolis Transparent  as good of a grindcore album you’ll hear in 2011, it’s a perfect eulogy to the memory of Jesse Pintado and the album’s dedication to him is perfectly done.