This is part of a semi-daily series of reviews as a project throughout the month of November.
Here’s the thing about Old School Death Metal (OSDM,) the genre kind of peaked close to when it began with bands like Death, Morbid Angel, and Autopsy. It would take a lot for a new record in the genre to stand out to me as particularly interesting or engaging and, as fun as it can be, I don’t think Necrot’s latest effort Mortal quite cuts it these days.
Starting with the positives first, because there are definitely plenty, it’s undeniable that the performers on Mortal are at the top of their game with their riffs and songwriting in their chosen style. The drums are the real highlight here, with lightning speed and precision throughout. Fantastic cymbalwork and time signature changes keep the playing diverse and drives forward the riffs which, for the most part, are engaging and powerful. The palm-muted bass is difficult to hear for the most part, and while I wish it had more overall presence I can tell that the sound would be a lot weaker without it. The guttural vocals as meat & potatoes as they are, are at least entertaining throughout and are never high enough in the mix to irritate me and hold enough power to engage me.
Where the instrumentals start to bug me are during many of the guitar solos. These aren’t poorly performed by any means, it’s clear to me that the lead guitarist is incredibly technically proficient and knows his way around a fretboard. The issue lies in the fact that for the most part they’re ripped straight out of classic Death Metal records without much taste. This is particularly noticeable in tracks like Asleep Forever and the especially phoned-in sounding title track. Solos like the ones in Stench of Decay (maybe the most stereotypical OSDM song title I’ve ever seen) and Sinister Will break up the monotony in a far more effective way, and those wind up being some of my favorite tracks on the record, but for the most part I find myself more irritated than impressed.
My biggest gripe with Mortal overall is a general disappointment in the songwriting and structure, particularly in the latter half of the record. While Your Hell and again Stench of Decay are bombastic enough to engage the whole way through, by the last thirteen minutes of the record I find myself wishing it had ended already. Malevolent Intentions is by no means a bad track, but I find myself underwhelmed by how few chances it takes and how by-the-numbers it ends up sounding. The title track is the most egregious example of this, it being over eight minutes in length while never really pushing the envelope enough to justify the space it takes up. Again, nothing here is particularly bad per se, but it’s hard not to wish for something a little bit more substantial when Death Metal as a genre has pushed its boundaries so much further in recent decades.
Despite my strong reservations with the style of the project and its length in the back half, I can’t deny the kick I get out of the first three tracks and Sinister Will. I’m not sure if I wish the album as a whole were shorter or if I just want something a little more experimental, but I’m hopeful that with their abundant technical ability they can pull off something a little more engaging next time.
Favorite Tracks: Your Hell, Sinister Will, Stench of Decay
Least Favorite Track: Mortal
Rating: 6/10
Buy the album here: https://necrot.bandcamp.com/album/mortal
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