Necrot – Lifeless Birth
Reviewed By: Jon Santitoro
Review Score: 10
Much attention (and hype) has been given to the so-called “New Wave of Old-School Death Metal” in recent years, and deservedly so. Death metal’s third generation of bands have consistently proven themselves to be talented musicians, creative songwriters, and impressive live performers. Oakland, California’s three-piece “groove and grind” juggernaut, Necrot might very well be the best of the bunch.
Expanding on the success of their sophomore effort, 2020’s Mortal, Necrot have finally returned with their much anticipated follow-up; Lifeless Birth. And needless to say, this latest release does not disappoint. Lifeless Birth is a seven song battering ram that, at it’s core, embodies everything death metal is about. No frills. No gimmicks. No BS. Just a hook and riff oriented sledgehammer guaranteed to raise hell and please both new and longtime fans.
However, Necrot is much more than just the sum of it’s parts. Founding member Luca Indrio (bass, vocals) and his band mates Chad Gailey (drums) and Sonny Reinhardt (guitars) have always exhibited amazing cohesiveness in their songwriting, boasting a much tighter sound than most of their contemporaries. And as expected; Lifeless Birth is a stalwart display of savage riffs, pummeling rhythm, razor sharp hooks and Luca’s throat scraping vocals.
As per Necrot‘s M.O., the band gets the album off to a blistering start with the opening track, ‘Cut The Cord.’ Don’t look for any melodic intros or flowery acoustics here. All you’ll find is an aggressive, groove-heavy sonic beat down in the finest OSDM tradition. ‘Cut The Cord’ is an excellent choice by the band as their first single; as it brilliantly showcases their signature style of memorable riffs and a subtle, but highly effective lead from Sonny at about 3:50 in.
The title track, ‘Lifeless Birth,’ might be the best track on the album. The pummeling rhythm section of Luca and Chad provides a stomping, relentless backdrop for Sonny’s menacing guitar work here. The song itself just feels like an approaching storm; brilliant and frightening.
‘Superior’ is the most blast-beat driven track on Lifeless Birth. No death metal album is really complete without a high-octane face ripper such as this, and ‘Superior’ delivers in full. Yet even while blasting away at full speed, Necrot always maintains their trademark catchy hooks, as demonstrated here.
The fourth song (and second single) of Lifeless Birth is ‘Drill The Skull.’ This track is an interesting departure from the norm for the band that features a much more down-tempo groove than one would typically expect. It’s placed cleverly in the track listing, and serves very well to “shake things up” a bit. A stroke of genius there. This one will undoubtedly be a fan favorite in the band’s live set, as well.
Necrot returns to their tried-and-true formula on the next track, ‘Winds Of Hell’. Nothing fancy here, just a mid-tempo grinder chock full of everything Necrot does best. Their no frills, blue collar approach to songwriting is fully evident here, and that’s not a bad thing.
The next song, ‘Dead Memories’, is a runaway roller coaster of twisting time changes that features Sonny’s best guitar leads on the album. Although the tempos change from blasts to mid-paced and back again, those razor sharp guitar hooks once again hold everything together seamlessly. This is an excellent track that displays just what talented songwriters Luca and company are.
Lifeless Birth closes out with ‘The Curse,’ an eight minute opus of straightforward destructive power. This groove-laden piledriver chugs forth like an unstoppable legion of the undead. This one is the epitome of impending doom, and a great way to finish the album.
Overall, Lifeless Birth is about as flawless of an album as one could hope for; powerful, aggressive, well-crafted and subtly brilliant at times. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing Necrot on the road and hearing these songs live.
Lifeless Birth is set for release on April 12th via Tank Crimes Records.