Unspeakable Axe continues to be a fine source of underground thrash metal related releases. Nucleus, Ripper, Zoldier Noiz and Besieged are all in fine company with the decidedly more lo-fi bestial-evil sourced non-war death/thrash band Phylactery. No, not the one from Czech Republic this one is from the finest sewers of Edmonton, Alberta. Their style is exactly what I said it was: Bestial evil sourced death/thrash that suckles equally from the clattering hysteria that is Sepultura‘s ‘Morbid Visions’ (alternately Kreator‘s ‘Pleasure to Kill’) while propelling themselves volcano-bound with uncomplicated thrash brutality ah via Demolition Hammer‘s ‘Tortured Existence’. While I can’t help but namedrop when talking about delicious sub-genre entries, the album’s bones serve as a thrilling adventure into the powerful world of death metal’s riff-focused rise alongside thrash metal in the late 80’s. ‘Necromancy Enthroned’ isn’t anything new for someone like me, a fan who has obsessed over extreme metal for the last 20 years, but it does offer a kicking display of death/thrash with a little hissin’ and spittin’ scowl on vocals. If I have to go Canadian with vocalist comparisons then the earlier stuff from Sacrifice is a good starting point.
The major thrash metal lean of these songs was surprising to me considering the folks who make up Phylactery. They’re essentially a collaboration between members of lesser known brutal death metal band Display of Decay and Dire Omen, who put out a fantastic atmospheric black/death metal album back in 2014. I have to say I think this Phylactery release is my favorite above those other groups, for what it’s worth it is incredibly vicious and focused beyond their other projects. I know this could be a hard sell to a lot of retro thrash fans: The excellent Paolo Girardi cover art and the almost war metal look of the whole thing is probably more compelling to death metal fans who might be surprised by the strong Teutonic thrash tendencies. I had a lot of fun with this one, I mean it boils down to whether or not you really appreciate the first two Kreator and Death albums. I really do, so I got a kick out of ‘Necromancy Enthroned’. Tons of riffs, all at a fully thrashing pace. Highly recommended.
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