Sure, it may distinguish some artists from contemporary, popular tech death metal bands, but acts described as "old-school death metal" often seem to be purveyors of timeless death metal. Oakland's
NECROT most certainly forward a timeless death metal construction delivered with the coarse punk edge clearly reminiscent of genre pioneers and Bay Area death metal forefathers
AUTOPSY. One might say
NECROT is more
NECROPHAGIA than
NECROPHAGIST. Following the path of its demos and
"The Labyrinth", a compilation of said demos, the unit's proper debut full-length,
"Blood Offerings", is a workmanlike exercise of gritty, raw death metal. The album marches forth with enough structural simplicity to lend itself to a broader kind of accessibility whilst retaining death metal's core elements such that one would be hard pressed to find a purist who would disapprove of the band's approach. In short,
"Blood Offerings" is one of 2017's best death metal albums.
Opener
"The Blade" sets the tone. It explodes out of the gate with a falling-into-the-pits-of-hell, winding, dizzying riff that's propelled by
Chad Gailey's drum work. His unstoppable hammering never lets up throughout the release. There's almost a sense that the trio is attacking their individual instruments more than playing them. Yet, unlike many modern extreme metal acts that focus upon excess and non-stop belligerence,
NECROT unquestionably wields its tools of destruction with a keen sense of songwriting and a frequent undercurrent of melody, most notably on a cut like
"Beneath".
Bassist
Luca Indrio—also of Bay Area death dealers
VASTUM—barks with a menacing, inhuman roar, while guitarist
Sonny Reinhardt draws the band's warpath with a sense of clarity He does this without relying on excessive repetition, and his ideas remain interesting from start to finish. Traces of NWOBHM shine throughout
NECROT's debut, most brightly during the final minute of album closer
"Layers of Darkness", which showcases the kind of guitar work
Reinhardt is known for with
SAVIOURS.
"Blood Offerings" offers enough simplicity and succinctness, delivered with the potency of a knife to the chest, to find its way into the collections of heavy music fans who are typically unfamiliar with death metal, a genre that's an acquired taste, to be sure. There isn't much by way of originality, but
NECROT assembles a collection of classic sounds in an undeniably timeless style with a fresh, forceful and memorable delivery.