Necronomicon (GER) - Apocalyptic Nightmare (1987)^{Release ID: 16763}

I quite enjoyed the self-titled debut album from this German thrash metal outfit but the 1987 follow-up release "Apocalyptic Nightmare" doesn't seem to have the same edge. It sees Necronomicon taking a similar approach with very loose performances & a nice raw production however this time the overall energy the band creates fails to balance out their complete lack of structure or technique with the guitars proving to be particularly incompetent. I do love the Schmier style vocals which have that nasty snarl that seems to be so common in the Teutonic thrash scene but some added technicality in the arrangements fails dismally in the execution. The Destruction influence is even more obvious than it was previously with a fair whack of speed metal being evident in the composition of the riffs but while most tracks have enjoyable parts when the band stops mucking around & simply thrashes out, only a couple of the seven lengthy tracks manage to overcome Necronomicon's technical & theoretical failings. "Apocalyptic Nightmare" is not awful but there were much better examples of Teutonic thrash around at the time.