Review by Alex on October 11, 2020.

Necrot's 2017 full length Blood Offerings debut didn't gain my attention as it did others within the underground. I think that's partly due to the amount of high quality releases charting at the time. They're not the only band I overlooked at the time, I remember Phrenelith getting many positive mentions for "Desolate Endscape", but never seemed to sound off on my radar as I was far too absorbed in "Eroded Corridors of Unbeing". Thus said, having lost track of Necrot for the most part, the announcement of Mortal, the band's follow up to Blood Offerings, came as a big surprise. In retrospect, perhaps not lending much time to Blood Offerings strongly impacted my taste developed for Mortal following countless sessions spent with the record.

That said, I didn't know what to expect heading into Necrot's sophomore full length; however, the cover artwork somewhat built my expectations that steadily developed into a reality. 'Your Hell' is my heaven and perhaps the heaven of many others that admire death metal. One of the strongest songs off Mortal is introduced as an opener, believe it or not. This is the sort of track any other band would have placed lower in the tracklisting for the sake of keeping the listener awake, provided how challenging countless bands find sustaining a listener's undivided attention for 30+ minutes can be. In Necrot's case, the guys give us a banger of a beginner due to how confident they are with the guts and tail end of Mortal. They've got the licks, the vocal bruises, the drumming distinction, the production and the know-how when it comes time to assemble it all.

Hope you were able to ride along the entrails of 'Your Hell' because 'Dying Life' will require more stamina and momentum if you're serious about keeping up. The pacing is turned up a bit, the riffs defeat those of 'Your Hell' and the drumming provides the stomping follow-through with tight double bass kicking and fluent transitions to diverse rhythms. 'Stench of Decay' pretty-much continues where 'Dying Life' concluded with yet another savage raise in speed. The syncopation is toned-down a tad bit here for more of a consistent headbanging effect.

Each song shows off its strength that translates to the musical understanding of Necrot's members. Sometimes very unpredictable like the break from the main riff in 'Asleep Forever' that succeeds a sweet twin-guitar version of the primary lead supported by one hell of a guitar solo or very candid such as aforementioned 'Stench of Decay'. Either way the songs coalesce exceptionally making every moment a memorable one deserving a revisit.

Yea, Mortal sounds like 3 years in the making. The way Necrot are able to pick out what works and implement it into their tunes gives one the impression of a studious, death metal savvy, long-vision kind of band. Songs sound affirmative, positive about its direction and route, with all elements smoothly falling into place. You barely even notice the moment 'Sinister Will' enters the equation that takes further a foot plummeted in riffing supremacy by arming the strings with a technical death metal firework of sorts and towards the end a groovy black metal-esque lead. That's the repeating factor about Mortal, the album refrains from repetition, instead always finding suitable sections to match the main riffs providing each song with a distinct characteristic.

Its hard to select a favorite off Mortal, so I won't; however, what I can do is list some highlights you may want to check out though I strongly recommend you listen to the album in its entirety for maximum effect. 'Your Hell', 'Sinister Will' and 'Malevolent Intentions' should suffice if you were just seeking justification. But if you already are familiar with Necrot, then head face-first into the pit.

Mortal as a new title under Necrot's belt outperforms Blood Offerings easily, it's no contest, no squabble, no locking of horns between the two to be honest; hence, their be no need to worry for anyone familiar with the band, what you get here eclipses anything Necrot has ever done.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Review by Fernando on September 27, 2020.

The late 2010's have been hailed as the "old school death metal revival" period and indeed, many bands have come out of the woodwork to lay claim to that movement. Some have used the “old school” sound of death metal as a springboard to breathe new life into the subgenre through experimenting and genre mixing, other sought to bring back that classic sound as it was but with a modern shin and twist, and today we have Necrot out of California returning to the spotlight with their sophomore record, simply titled Mortal.

Necrot are definitely no strangers when it comes to the crop of death metal revivalists, their early demos and debut LP Blood Offerings were worthy releases, and deserving of praise. Blood Offerings in particular was a major stand out from the other revivalist bands, the band displayed the mandatory checkboxes of death metal speed and brutality, but with a modern production and a bit of a twist in the compositions, as the band displayed a clear leaning into thrash metal through their guitar work, and for Mortal the band has doubled down on that thrash metal appreciation. Mortal is much heavier and more technical than its predecessor in every aspect, the band even subtly displays a black metal influence in the vocals of bassist Luca Indrio, his growls are much more bellowing and have a echoing effect that adds to the album’s brutal atmosphere. Another exciting aspect of this new LP is how the band are able to incorporate more influences from doom and classic heavy metal into the death metal sound they crystalized in their debut record, it’s a natural evolution from that album’s sound and style while also exploring different soundscapes.

The main standout continues to be the guitar work of Sonny Reinhardt and drummer Chad Gailey. The former has evolved from the “straight-to-the-jugular” approach of a main riff with specific variations throughout the song and solos, the guitar work is much more complex and sprawling, one song can feature two or even more riffs and the solos are also longer and more technical. Drumming is also equally refined and polished, aside from the speed and intensity, drumming has rhythm and a continuous momentum that’s never lost, both of these performances alongside the vocals and bass combined is where the band fully embrace their thrash influence. In songs like 'Asleep Forever', and 'Stench of Decay' display that balance of death metal musical aesthetics and groundwork with the technicality and layers of classic thrash metal like early Metallica and Megadeth in their heyday, and the band also ventures into death-doom atmospherics as shown in tracks like 'Sinister Will' and the monumental closing title track. That last track is also where the band display every single aspect of the album and it's both a grand finale and a perfect encapsulation of the record as a whole. And what’s most impressive is how the band were able to compose the album in a way where each track leads to the next without feeling like an abrupt change of pace.

However, while the band successfully refined their sound and filled in the gaps from the previous album, they still haven’t completely manage to sand off those rough edges. On repeated listening album can be somewhat homogenous as the overall style is kept uniform from beginning to end, that being said this is still a triumph for the band and a masterclass death metal record that mixes several elements to its full advantage. If the 2020’s mark the end of this “old school” death metal renaissance, Necrot more than can keep marching on and have displayed their continued evolution and development rather nicely.

Best tracks: 'Dying Life', 'Asleep Forever', 'Sinister Will', 'Mortal'

Rating: 8.6 out of 10

Review by Alex on May 5, 2019.

Canadian sect Death Worship follows up 2016’s widely praised Extermination Mass with End Times, a record that continues its quest to stomp out all human existence. Having heard brother bands Revenge and Conqueror, one easily noticeable difference of Death Worship is the production and less impulse-driven blade of their strike. Not saying End Times is not a savage record, it’s that maturity can be heard on this new spree of violence.

Tempo changes are still a thing on End Times which reinforces the idea of controlled musical barbarity. Black/death or "war metal" records this short mostly play at an uncompromising speed; but here, the pacing is mixed with groove laden segments, thus giving the compositions added layers of depth. Death Worship continues to use deeper carvings of harmony to prevent End Times from sounding like a perpetual wall of recklessness that some bands under the “war metal” moniker have a fetish for. Not that I would mind if they kept things more feral, as I prefer the more untamed showings of excoriation, but this works. However; coming off the momentum of a killer debut EP that was released in 2016, I was expecting a less approachable sound and a few more songs after such a long period of waiting, thus bringing to light Death Worship’s appreciation of quality over quantity. Yes, it's only 12 minutes’ worth of music, but the way the songs are constructed reflects that of an effort in which had been dwelling under significant surveillance and supervision throughout its development; thus, ensuring ideal results. Like scientists engineering a biological weapon of large-scale devastating effects; the Ross Bay Cult commanders ensured this entity underwent extensive examination, from zygote to embryo to warhead, no cellular incoherencies went undetected and untreated. Though borrowing elements from and putting to work the successful touch of Conqueror, the amendments made have proven to be anything but arbitrary. 

Due to the record being so short, the memorable occurrences fly-by so fast you get the feeling something more is missing, like the cherry on top of an ice-cream cone. End Times gallops to the end so fast that you can barely savor some really talented moments heard from the opening track to the final entry. The replay-ability is there but solely relying on how many times you can endure something that races to the end without looking back. However; Death Worship delivers what has come to be expected from them at this level. With the rabid vocals acting in accordance with the hammering drums and paroxysmal guitars, the speeding rage rarely settles but can still be intensively felt on the groovier sections of End Times, as can be heard on” The Poisoned Chalice”. Plus with the production holding up so well, this short act of “war metal” aggression will satisfy the seasoned listener/supporter, but only for so long. 

I would prefer if Death Worship adapted a more chaotic sound and muddled approach to the riff writing and guitar tuning; however, this audible polish is not that much of a turn-off; and that's all credited to the fantastic musicianship. End Times is a fairly short but quality effort by Death Worship, but after 2+ years since Extermination Mass, I’m of the belief that it’s a tease for something more to come later in 2019 (hopefully). We will have to be content with this besiegement for now; End Times crushes but I fear there is a second more destructive wave of nuclear radiation approaching. 

Rating: 7.4 out of 10