Album Review: Necrophobic – In the Twilight Grey (Century Media Records)

Legends of the night. Demons of the dark. Blackened death metal band Necrophobic are back with their new album, ’In the Twilight Grey’, their tenth studio album. It will be released on March 15th, 2024, via Century Media Records.

You don’t get to ten albums without having made some sort of impression on the wider metal world, and you’re certainly not still going in 2024, when you first emerged from hell in 1989. Necrophobic are special, and across an illustrious career, they have delighted listeners with some of the ugliest, nastiest, and most demonically charged music that Satan would be proud of.

If, by some miracle, this is your first taste of the blood and bile this band exudes, their sound can be summed up simply enough. It’s black metal crossed with death metal. However, while that might be the basis of the Necrophobic sound, it’s far from the ‘be all and end all’ of their sound.

For starters, they have this incredible ability to be anthemic, if you can believe that, something that is evident again on this album. Then, although not a major component of things, melody does play a part and they’re particular great at harmonising instruments. How about the groove that slides in here and there? The stuff that gets rhythmic head-banging going. There are guitar solos, choruses, and shout-along moments. Necrophobic really are an anomaly in metal, even if the basis is so familiar, especially to extreme metal fans.

It should come as no surprise that this new album is an ass-kicker through and through. From the manic blend of black and death that comes with Grace of the Past (that chorus is awesome), to the blistering wickedness of Clavis Inferni (so much guitar flair), to the sinister epic atmosphere and head-banging rhythm of As Stars Collide. The first part of this album is heavy hitter after heavy hitter, with Stormcrow’s brutish speed and blackened intensity putting the exclamation point on that statement.

Things start to get really grand at the halfway point though, as Necrophobic bring forth more darkness than a person should be able to cope with. Passing the eight-minute mark, Shadows of the Brightest Night is a track fraught with danger as the drums and guitars hit with impossible force. A track with vocals that are simply horrifically harsh. It’s a monstrous effort that goes through so many twisted evolutions across its runtime. It shows just how smart this band can be, pushing the mind to breaking point through sheer blackened death heaviness, but always dragging it back from the brink with shifts in sound.

It’s exhausting, but Necrophobic refuse to let lethargy sink in. Delivering plenty of gaudy malice in the form of Mirrors of a Thousand Lies, a track with insane guitar soloing, and Cast in Stone, a straight-forward blast of heavy blackened noise.

Take the ‘simplicity’ of these tracks, because things are about to get big again with Nordanvind and the title track. Two of the darkest, nastiest, and ruthlessly intense tracks of all, but also two of the most layered efforts of all. Right up to the very end, Necrophobic find ways to amaze and impress, while never straying out of the realms of extreme. Ending the album with a piece of burdening and oppressive atmosphere in the form of Ascension (Episode Four).

Expect something great from Necrophobic and get something great from Necrophobic. As reliable as night devours the day, Necrophobic deliver an album that will haunt your nightmares.

Necrophobic – In the Twilight Grey Track Listing:

1. Grace of the Past
2. Clavis Inferni
3. As Stars Collide
4. Stormcrow
5. Shadows of the Brightest Night
6. Mirrors of a Thousand Lakes
7. Cast in Stone
8. Nordanvind
9. In the Twilight Grey
10. Ascension (Episode Four)

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