Having been through it, tried and tested over the last several years Oakland, California-borne death metal band Necrot return for a third full-length album focused as ever upon the direct impact of their craft, unperturbed by what nonsense might otherwise dilute or dissolve their core efficacy as a unit. Now nearly four years beyond the trio’s prior LP ‘Lifeless Birth‘ doesn’t afford itself any time to languish in conversation, instead opting to get right to the rush of blood returning to their flesh as they cut right to what they’ve been at work on in the interim. Aiming to further master the five minute death metal song via careful attention paid to tempered melodicism and modestly sophisticated arcing arrangements this album might have severe tunnel vision in its pathing but for the sake of its actions representing a maturation of their intent which does not lose sight of ‘old school’ death metal’s simple efficacy and purest intent sans any/all pretense.

Delayed onset necroticism. — Though we might not have heard from Necrot in full-length form ’til ‘Blood Offerings‘ back in 2017 we can (and should) count them as compatriots to groups like Vastum and Rude as these folks formed in 2011 within a late-gen stage of a traditional death metal boon, an uptick in the mid-2000’s underground networks which’d ideologically peaked in the first half of the 2010’s. As their compatriots reach the decade mark of exploration and beyond we find the natural process of maturation calling the then twentysomething death metal fixation of many to a close with progressive works or complete exits from the heavy metal headspace on the horizon, yet it’d felt like the sophomore LP (‘Mortal‘, 2020) from the band had finally marked their grand arrival into a most classic headspace, something more timelessly -theirs- rather than a piece of a passing wave. The argument for that second album being a defining work for the band should be compounded by what we find on ‘Lifeless Birth‘, a direct continuation of the standards and practices of that record upheld and the core voice of the artist expanded within clearly defined parameters.

From my point of view Necrot have held the interest of traditional death metal fans for the sake of easily identified intent, a reasonably accessible and often mid-paced approach to ‘old school’ death metal influenced sounds which rouses their base thanks to a natural avoidance of the current generation’s blind spots, crucial sectors of the mind palace which are often (unfortunately) filled with elements of post-millennial metalcore, hardcore or poorly applied post-metal modus otherwise. The “work” and for many the absolute point of death metal, the riffs and the horrified mayhem they bring, is not lost upon their work even when the density of ideas is tempered to not become overwhelming or, difficult to read. In this sense their work can hang with the grotty Undergang side of things just as well as hold their own on a gig with Skeletal Remains for the sake of those ideals being upheld by musicians from a certain generation and with a similar high standard in mind. This standard was quickly observed in review of ‘Blood Offerings‘ back in 2017 and modified in a more extensive inquiry of ‘Mortal‘ wherein I’d best connected with their sound and style. Heading into ‘Lifeless Birth‘ the only expectation was a pure and direct-to-vein ‘old school’ death metal album with the same high standards for production values and aesthetic curation. If your expectations will be met by an album which builds direction, melodicism and tact upon the foundation of ‘Mortal‘ while matching that high standard of craft then consider this one a an quick and easy recommendation up front.

It bodes well that album opener “Cut The Cord” chunks into its first riff right off the bat and soon hits its fourth by the one minute mark as this knack for straight forward, thrusters-attached death metal temperament flows from Necrot once again, making the five minute pummel of the opener feel like three. Carefully arranged for the sake of refractory contrast between parts and split by clear points of transition the rhythm guitar is the main point of leadership here and across the board as we find first contact has a bit of an early Swedish melodic death metal snap to its punctuative hits, the musculature of ‘Terminal Spirit Disease‘ indulged but never escalated to a fully anthemic state as they tunnel forth (see also: “Winds of Hell”). The main point of admiration here on my part centers around the clean lines of riff, an art which is all but lost to many death metal guitarists today wherein the effect of the song would still be intact even if reduced to chord changes, save the downstroked thrash chunking which pushes things along. From that point of charged entrance my initial reaction to ‘Lifeless Birth‘ wasn’t altogether different than it was to ‘Mortal‘, finding the simplicity of their work a bit standard before being inspired by the more thrashed-at aspects of songs like “Lifeless Birth”, “Superior” and the second half of “Winds of Hell”.

In fact the title track was a major point of focus on my end as I wrapped my head around the sustained bass guitar hits, the rushed-along and almost motorized press of the drums, and the death-thrashing movement it’d all created in motion. It’d felt like most of ‘Lifeless Birth‘ was intentionally kept as simple as the ideas that’d built it, wherein the use of simple components to craft energizing pieces almost appears more difficult than finding a point of exaggeration to build upon. Much of this observation comes from the girding presence of the drums wherein drummer Chad Gailey (Mortuous, Vastum, Carbonized Records, et al.) does not heavily embellish the faster paced sections of these songs, leaving the riffs floating above a four-count double bass kicked roll as a default setting for verses. There are a few pieces which interrupt this mode more frequently than others, such as the warped leads and kinda blackened hiss of “Dead Memories” and chunked-up grooves of “Drill the Skull“, though I couldn’t shake the feeling that much of this album’s riffcraft was penned between a guitar and a couple of rudimentary beats as remnants of this process seem to inform the persistence of ‘Lifeless Birth‘. Feeling slightly less buttoned-up doesn’t necessarily hurt a proper death metal album, though.

What I’d ultimately struggled with throughout my time with this album was making any sort of next-level connection with its fineries beyond admiring the lyrics, its general style, and some of the more thrash-forward guitar work found on the album. The appeal of this particular album didn’t fully strike me until I’d pulled back from the minutiae of the moment and let the whole thing rip on its own terms. Instead of picking through each song and finding likeness in past precedence, since most of the aesthetics that’d made ‘Mortal‘ unique are expanded upon herein, the fixation of ‘Lifeless Birth‘ on my end centered around appreciation for the head-down, tunneled through movement of its arrangements; Though some of the finer points of finesse are missing, or, are not as refined in their details as I’d expected the gusting momentum of the full listen was easy to pick up and brief enough at ~41 minutes in length that Necrot‘s sound, snapped-out guitar driven grooves, and aggressive intent easily entertained in a most classic sense. Otherwise they’ve upheld high standards set for lyricism, curation (with cover art once again via Marald Van Haasteren), and production values (Earhammer + Audiosiege, an always brilliant pairing) all of which serve the end result with a best foot forward. A moderately high recommendation.

---