Necromantia: To The Depths We Descend…

An album born out of tragedy, To The Depth We Descend… is both the final release from black metal legends Necromantia and a tribute to the sadly departed Baron Blood, who passed away in 2019. Spurred on to create one final offering to honour his fallen partner in Necromantia, The Magus has crafted six tracks here that hark back to the classic black metal era with real authority and then added updated versions of two of his own band’s classic outpourings.

Famed for eschewing the use of guitars as a foundation instrument, and instead employing four and eight string basses in their place, with the enforced absence of Baron Blood, that ethos changes quite considerably as the six string makes its presence felt in a way no Necromantia album has prior. And it was exactly this type of move that has seen some concern placed at this album’s darkened doorstep, but that was until we heard it. The opening pairing of “Daemonocentric� and “And The Shadows Wept�, which between them make for nearly 14 minutes of classic black metal howling, leaving no doubt that this band are going to head out on a high. Dark, foreboding, uncompromising and yet imbued with a sickly melody, both make an instant hit that only cuts deeper as their grinding teeth slice under your skin.

Cleverly, “Give The Devil His Due� peels back the intensity, eerie and insistent, this brief instrumental scurry laying down a new path from which the tempo changing “Inferno� burns brightly. Vocally things are utterly convincing, traditional black vocals where you can feel the innate anger broken up by genuinely unsettling whispers, before the pace once more becomes a pummel of flailing limbs and shredding drumsticks. Add in some spooky - almost cheesy - keyboards and as ever with this outfit, elements that would in the wrong hands become laughable are instead twisted into thoroughly convincing asides. “Eldritch� adds an even more sinister bent, the demonic vocals joined by barely audible spoken word that sets your hairs on end, while the journey between mid-paced riff powerings and crawling crashes of sound prove completely bewitching.

In classic Necromantia style, the album ‘closing’ title track pushes all that has come before to one side to instead sit on plaintive piano, echoing clarinet and horror-gore themes that truly hit their mark. For a band who can hammer smash with such ferocity to be able to strike so uncompromisingly in such sparse, expertly arranged surrounds, shows the true class on display.

Adding two re-recorded classic to that expert concoction could have proved utter folly but thankfully both “Lord Of The Abyss MMXXI� and “The Warlock MMXXI� stay reverential enough to their sources to provide the respect desired but both also feel fresh enough to have merited these re-workings - and as final tributes to a fallen band-mate who helped bring them to life in the first place, are a triumph.

It is only right that To The Depths We Descend… is the final offering from Necromantia, but even without taking into account the circumstances that brought it to life, this album is undoubtedly a fitting way to bow out.

Track Listing
1. Daemonocentric

2. As the Shadows Wept (…For Baron Blood)

3. Give the Devil His Due

4. Inferno

5. Eldritch

6. To the Depths We Descend…

7. Lord of the Abyss MMXXI

8. The Warlock MMXXI

Added: November 5th 2021
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Necromantia @ facebook
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Language: english

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