Asphyx - Necroceros (2021)^{Release ID: 25893}

I wish that I could enjoy Asphyx more than I do. There blend of Death Doom Metal is very different from the stuff that I typically find enjoyable from bands like Swallow The Sun and My Dying Bride; where they use traditional death metal riffage and instrumentation, albeit with slower tempos, fewer thrash adjacent passages and less sweeping melodic phrases. The problem that I have with Asphyx is their consistent use of messy, DIY production and it makes them sound very amateurish. If the band could fix this up, I would have no problem vibing out to them unironically and one of the better displays of "true" Death Doom Metal.

With Necroceros, I have the sneaking suspicion that this group is in the legacy portion of their career, even if I'm not quite sure that they deserve it. I stand by with many of the other reviewers on this website claiming that Asphyx's first two albums: The Rack and Last One on Earth are not as classic as others review base websites claim them to be. They are decent and Necroceros is decent as well, but it falls flat in many of the same ways that previous efforts from this band have for me.

And it's the production, as usual, keeping me from liking this more. Buy a metronome for God's sake! The percussion on this album sounds atrocious! There are countless examples of fading in and out of time, or simply not playing the right time at all! "The Sole Cure is Death" and "Botox Implosion" both have the percussion unable to keep up with the groove during the thrash passages, while songs like "Yield or Die" see the drummer playing in a duple rhythm while the guitar riffing is in triple time. It sounds lazy and disjointed beyond comprehension, and it ruins one of the albums better riffs. I know that some listeners will tell me that this is a death metal record and this is part of the greater appeal, but not like this.

Beyond that, the vocals sound shredded. Look... Martin van Drunen is doing death metal growls into his fifties and that is super impressive, if only for the dedication to the craft. But they do not sound good at all. The raspy vocal timbre does not fit in with the rest of the bands discography, and especially those first two "classic" albums. 

Asphyx are at the very least, capable of writing a decent melody and sticking with it. "Molten Black Earth" is an early album standout, while "Three Years of Famine" has the group return to longer song structures, and doing a fairly good job of building and developing themes and connecting them together. I already mentioned the guitar riff on "Yield or Die", and "The Nameless Elite" has one of the better executed Doom to Death connectors that I have heard on a record in recent memory.

What it all boils down to is another Asphyx record. Probably not a great place to step on board if you are new to this group. Go back and check out The Rack and Last One on Earth first, then if you like what you hear, make your way through the discography to Necroceros. But given what I think of those albums already, my opinion is quite jaded. I wanted to like this more.

If I am honest from the outset of this review my first few listens of Necroceros (like Rhinoceros apparently) left me with a couple of challenges. As a band who are responsible for some of my favourite doom/death releases there was an element of disappointment at the more melodic and accessible sound that presented itself on Asphyx's first album for five years.

This in part I guess is due to them letting “Seeb” Leverman undertake mixing duties as opposed to the regular butt cheeks of Dan Swanö occupying the chair behind the mixing desk. Whether it is Leverman’s power metal influences shaping things or simply conscious changes in the writing (I suspect both) Necroceros sounds like the band are exploring a variety of riffing options, whether it be the stabbing melodic death metal influences of Molten Black Earth or the big open rock sounding riffs of Mount Skull, this is not the familiar territory of Asphyx to my ears.

The quality of the song writing is still there and epic monstrosities such as Three Years of Famine and the title track that ends the record give me enough assurance that Asphyx are not going all Amon Amarth on me. Although not as up-tempo overall as previous outings, the record maintains variety well, launching straight into the opening track with a vigour that belies the ages of the band members. Tracks are well paced and those harrowing melodies from the guitars are littered throughout the album as familiar melancholic totems for old fans like myself to latch onto.

The second challenge I mentioned right at the start of the review is to do with the amount of filler on what I must note is a very front-loaded album. Beyond track six I find most subsequent songs just pass me by and although the closing of the album is strong, I do not feel the title track flexes its full musculature and sounds weaker than it probably actually was intended to be. This overall dilution of the album just leaves me with a sense of frustration in that although this is not a terrible album, it lacks the familiar bite associated with the artist and concerns do get heightened that this is a directional shift that will escalate across future albums.