Admirable for their maniac persistence and productivity in quick development of a viable ‘old school’ inspired death metal sound of their own Brașov, Romania-based trio Necrotum arrive upon a best yet sense of self on this brutal, groove-stricken yet fumbled through third full-length album. ‘Defleshed Exhumation‘ carries its own hundred-toothed taste in temper of classics inspired stunts be it randomized arcane tech-death runs, mid-paced brutality which narrowly dodges mosh metal tropes, or dual-rhythmic interplay. In creeping between these modes their sophisticated intent butts up against a still-developing (but much improved) skill level, work which crafts obsessive shapes which are tuneless yet no less compelling. The end result is an idiosyncratic death metal album which manages both typified movements and unexpected pockets of interest arisen at an equiprobable rate.

Necrotum formed back in 2019 with the admirable intent of grinding out straight forward death metal songs, an effort primarily spearheaded by Filip Garlonta (Putred, Demoted, Vorus, et al.) who’d performed guitars, vocals and drums on their first eight or so recordings alongside now former bassist Vlad Ciubuc. They’d been prolific in that time frame (2019-2021) including three demos, four singles, and a full length (‘Condemned to Burn‘, 2019) which frankly may just as well be considered a demo considering its quality. These were definitely formative releases with basic guitar work and a sense of rhythm that’d not yet grasped any sort of voice and for our purposes today I’d say the provenance provided by that period of the band is largely uninteresting. Once they’d expanded the band to a trio and started linking up with Uriel Aguillon in other projects and recording their ‘Hanging Above the Deadpool‘ (2022) show marked improvement in fidelity and keeping the rhythms up to a proper standard even if still presenting a shambling, primitive sound.

Downtuned to Hell, jagged in every step, incoherent and/or atonal in shaping its main riffs Necrotum‘s second full-length album (‘Undead Symbiosis‘, 2022) was yet a marked improvement over their first as their musicianship, production values were simultaneously elevated. The work they’ve put in since then is equally strong in its step as it seems those new members’ capabilities and tastes have introduced more brutal death metal punishment beyond the Grave and Cannibal Corpse fed mid-paced chugging of prior material. This lends a slow and greasy grind to ‘Defleshed Exhumation‘ which feeds an escalator of chunky, disorganized rushes of ideas into each piece it serves, creating ornate and rambling pieces which avoid outright dissonance but skronk and groove in difficult to predict ways. Citing inspiration from early Deeds of Flesh, Broken Hope and Mortal Decay we get a meandering and almost playfully orchestrated fusion of disarray and moshable brutality on this album which never quite manages a tuneful result but still impresses with the level of detail they’ve put into these naturally crafted, flowing death metal songs.

Simple chugged-out grooves, pinch harmonics, heavy repetition, discordant guitar runs, call-and-response dual guitar interplay, and Finnish style leads scrawling in the distance might all read as the doldrums of the average zoomer-writ five minute death metal song today but in Necrotum‘s hands a song like “Incomprehensible Forms” or “Dissolved in the Flesh Pits” carries out a determined plan to emulate the intensity and thoughtful variants of the early-to-mid 90’s with a newborn edge. The Desecresy (or, Ghoulgotha?) level buzz of the latter (“Dissolved in the Flesh Pits”) might be irrefutably moshable but this speaks to the slowed and twisted form of brutal death intent at the core of this albums trip. As it turns out most of ‘Defleshed Exhumation‘ is built within a complex web of these elements, speaking its core language through a bonking dropped-to-the-floor guitar sound which bounces hard yet the charm of these pieces lies in how these folks’ve written occasionally incomprehensible lines and forcefully moulded them to their own purposes, made them work within a grotesque set of mannerisms. “Noxious Breeze” provides the clearest illustration of those elements coming together in an at-times hard to follow throng of enthusiasm for death metal groove which I’d found (earlier) Tomb Mold-esque in its escalating call, a certain point where taste in Suffocation and Finnish death cross unexpected wiring, leading to erratic change-ups and surreal atmosphere.

Guitars distorted to the brink of their tone, a bass guitar tangled up in their midst, and drums which flatly scatter and fog beneath the combined presence of the guitar work all leave the aftertaste of a mid-to-late 90’s death metal album aiming for something which is both ancient in its ideal and weirding in its adventurous craft. The sound design of ‘Defleshed Exhumation‘ is most akin to the second generation technical death metal which sets the guitar as an instrument of percussive fusion sans any real atmospheric drift. We feel the presence of the album loud and clear from the start, their clearest and most characterizing render to date but find new mastery in its needled and skronking guitar work compressed by the brutal step carried through each piece. “Shattered Flow of Time” is marked fusion of these two aspects of Necrotum‘s arrangements but the thought doesn’t necessarily come together until triggered and whipping hits of “Psychotic Apparitions” provides the peak of the full listen in that regard. We could go into much more depth in terms of the running order and how it all plays out the but the overall effect is excess, disorganization, and a sort of barbaric intelligence rising to a foam as ‘Defleshed Exhumation‘ plays. It is a step beyond their past works which does its best to get lost in the moment of each piece while still chipping away at their still in-the-works signature rhythms.

A closer look at the cover art (by way of Slimeweaver) alongside a very strong Demigod cover song positioned as the finale completes an entirely charming, brutal first impression. Though Necrotum‘s guitar work often feels simplified for the sake of accommodating the resistance offered by baritone-tuned guitars they never drag on with any one thought for too long while keeping each piece song under four minutes or so on average. For the seasoned ‘old school’ death metal fandom steeping in their own explorations ‘Defleshed Exhumation‘ should prove a high standard on the scale of moderne barbaric death metal, well sorted in their approximation of the old ways but doing things their own way with a distinct “self-taught” feeling of the artist scribbling outside the lines. Though some of the moshable stuff to be found here left me tentative in terms of the long-term experience with this album it’d made its case clear enough by way of a couple of uninterrupted and patience listens. The second half of the album belabors the erratic walk-paced Greg Ginn-level sensory amusia to start but eventually finds a solid place to land as they pick up the pace. This makes for an at-times tedious, noxious session which only occasionally gives the listener enough room to breathe and it fits Necrotum‘s intent especially well in terms of mid-paced and erratic translations of groove-centric brutality. A high recommendation.

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