Reviews list for Necrodeath - Into the Macabre (1987)

The best ever thrash album to come out of Italy is probably not that well-known, but it is a super-intense blast through riffs and thrashbeats that is both wild and exhilharating. Vocalist, Ingo, has a really evil-sounding bark that gives the album even more of a dark edge. If you have listened to much South American thrash then you will feel perfectly at home here. Driving right up to the border between death and thrash metal, whilst definitely remaining on the thrash side, this takes the intensity of the Big 3 teutonic thrashers and injects it with the evil darkness of atmosphere found on Possessed's Seven Churches. In common with most people I suspet, this passed me by in the Eighties, but I am glad I stumbled upon it years later and it still carries an effective and vital intensity even nowadays. A much overlooked 80's thrash metal gem.

As with a few thrash/death albums at the time, Into the Macabre suffers from terrible production. This is apparent from the start (proper) of the opening track. In some regards this adds to the charm and appeal of the music, in others it also fails to showcase the full potential of the band. The rabid riffs and face-searing intensity of the music overall sounds badly muffled. Whilst it does add to the “necro” and “macabre” traits of the act and album title respectively it does at the same time make things sound really rushed or hastily recorded (no doubt on a tight studio timeline).

In terms of death/thrash for the time though, Necrodeath can almost put no foot wrong. We did not really know any different back in 1987, did we? We had had Seven Churches from Possessed, the clumsy yet unquestionably authentic debut from Sepultura and were yet to experience a full length from Protector. The vocal comparisons to Millie from Kreator are inevitable of course so let us get them out of the way early on here. Ingo’s grim, blackened delivery has less high-end range than the Kreator frontman’s does and to that end the whole sound of the vocals makes them sound eviller than Mille’s. Against the backdrop of those (murky) thumping drums and raging riffs they are a perfect accompaniment and should be viewed beyond just being Kreator clones.

Even with the less-than-ideal production job you can hear the quality of the bands thrash metal. It is a raging torrent of maniacal and violent thrash metal that was to be championed by the likes of Sadus and Demolition Hammer that uses death metal sonics and leads (and occasionally vocals) to add an extra edge of extremity to proceedings. There is no let-up in the intensity, not even once. When the band do drop into a slower pace or tempo, they deploy atmospheric menace to great effect. As such it is an album that demands your attention and can therefore clearly live beyond whatever horrors got done to things at the mixing desk. In a way it is an album that demands your attention in a way were it almost seems to recognise it is trapped under ice somewhat on the sound stakes but doesn’t give a fuck anyway and can still get your attention regardless.