Bæst - Necro Sapiens (2021)^{Release ID: 26322}

My first encounter with Danish death metallers Baest has been interesting to say the least.  Their third full-length release, Necro Sapiens is a strong piece of death metal that is heavy on the groovy riffs and has a big sound from start to finish courtesy of a great production job from Andreas Linneman.  From album opener (proper) Genesis it is clear that this album is brimming with attitude and energy, both of which spew forth in every riff and every guttural gurn.  The main riff to this track in particular mines the very depths of the earth itself it seems whilst being melodic enough to stick in the brain for hours afterwards.

For a band from Denmark, there's an obvious Swedish sound to proceedings with the vocals in particular reminding me of Nick Holmes era Bloodbath but there's also smatterings of Entrails and Vomitory littered throughout the record as well as an excellent penchant to drop into a Bolt Thrower style jog for some real variety as well.  As a result there is a sense of completeness to most tracks, like they have explored many possible boundaries before deciding on the final outcome for a particular track.

Unafraid to launch songs with grand openings, Baest regularly start tracks with huge riffs (Czar) which lean towards a more death/doom style of metal but these tracks don't always maintain the momentum that gets built early on in these instances and as a result there aren't many tracks that as a whole can be remembered - more just bits of the record (but lots of bits).  This sits as perhaps my one criticism of the album.  Although there's variety spread throughout the record that sense of completeness is only in the immediate sense as you listen to the record.  I sit here after listening through a track and enjoy most of it but then can't always remember why.  When I go back and spin through again the same high points hit me but the overall experience lacks the completeness suggested in the individual parts of the track listing.

That having been said, Necro Sapiens rarely actually falters.  As an in your face, banging death metal record it ticks all the boxes and is delivered with a quality that most bands can only dream of (at three albums in to a six year career that's actually impressive enough a feat) and it is clear that these are musicians who know their stuff.  It strikes me as one of the more melodic non-melodeath albums I have heard in all honesty but never once does that melody sacrifice the energy or imposing nature of the sound.  I'm impressed.