Necronomicon - The Queen of Death (album review)

Necronomicon is a psychedelic doom metal band from Brazil.  They don't go in for the deep, deep and dark tones of most doom bands, but instead opt for a fuzzed-out stoner rock tone, but play very, very doom-y riffs.  The combination works well.  The band utilizes different effects like backwards guitar and phazing and some different instrumentation such as organ and animoog synth to strengthen the atmosphere built with their terrific and danger-infested Sabbathian riffs.  With their penchant for 1960s Bay Area psychedelic jam freak outs they very nearly definitively answer the question: "what would Black Sabbath have sounded like had they started out in San Francisco in 1966?"

From the opening notes of "Holy Planet Yamoth" you will be hooked.  A Sabbath-sized riff, buzzed over whispered vocals.  The (also very Sabbath-y) middle eight part is a genuine slice of uber-trippy 60s psychedelia, a snippet of backwards guitars leads us down a dark alley of nervous freak funk which opens up onto a very San Franciscan Doors / Country Joe & the Fish, etc. like jam out.

"The Assassin's Song" begins with an evil groove thick with funk, then changes gears into a Cream meets Deep Purple boogie with organ.  A gong brings us back to the thick and evil groove of the opening verse, bringing the listener back gently to where it all started with synth zaps setting off light shows inside the skull.

"The Black Priests of Chaos" shows a gentler side of the band, soft singing at the front of the track draws the listener in like a siren call, but this is only a deceptive front.  A recruitment tool to fool the uninitiated into the temple to be laid upon the altar.  The band switches gears on a dime and is ready to drop a psychedelic freak out in a heartbeat.

"Dreaming of the Old Ones" is an instrumental with organ as lead instrument.  Fans of Blizaro will find much to love in this track.  The band shows great versatility like some multi-faceted demon head, there's the doom aspect, which is the first face revealed, then there's the 60s San Francisco psychedelic side and so on.  This is the band's occult themed side staring directly at you.

"Hypnotic Overdrive Machine" turns back on the band's Sabbath groove side with a riff as rockin' and funky as the title suggests.  This band doesn't disappoint.  The track fades out about two thirds of the way towards the end, then chugs and bounces its way back in with a great 70s hard rock driving tune only to lead to an epic doomy finish.

Title track and closer "The Queen of Death" has one of the sexiest, most dangerous riffs you're likely to hear.  Lillian Lessa (guitarist)'s riffs are like a warning to the uninitiated.  Again, her guitar is like a siren, at once alluringly sexy and hideously deadly.

If there's one criticism to be had with this recording, it's the quality of the recording itself.  It's perhaps too thin and really buries the tonal depth you know this band has the potential to wallow the listener in.  But there's always the argument that this effect only lends authenticity to their 1960s leanings, giving it the quality of some great lost recording of a bygone era.

The real challenge here is picking a favorite track, they're all potential hits.

Highlights include: "The Assassin's Song" and "The Queen of Death"

Rating: 5/5

Total Run Time: 38:36

From: Maceio, Brazil

Genre: Doom, Psychedelic, Retro Rock, Occult Rock

Reminds me of: Black Sabbath, Blizaro, Country Joe & The Fish, Deep Purple, Seremonia, Vinum Sabbatum


Release Date: October 27, 2012

Suggested listening activity for fellow non-stoners: Come into the temple and be welcomed (as a sacrifice to the Unholy Ones).

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