The Greek word nekrós means dead person. Welcome to Necroligion.
The cover for their self-titled EP gives strong Godspeed You! Black Emperor Lift Your Skinny Fists like Antennas to Heaven vibes. This is a good thing, as is the cover’s spidery depiction of a ram-headed cult leader summoning spirits or protesting a VAR decision that took eight minutes to happen. In the afterlife, technology has no place – bloody whims punctuate the endless days of darkness.
Necroligion coalesced a couple of years ago in the desperate swill of the southwest, otherwise known as the Bristol region. One of their members is Russell Barron from the ‘sewer sludge’ band Gnasch, whose brilliant debut album The Legend of Johnny Gnasch was reviewed by SLAP last November. The first track on Necroligion is the simply titled ‘Intro’, and it was created by dark ambient artist Prior – an appropriate name for someone making introductory tracks. ‘Intro’ is the sound of a prison panopticon having a meltdown, an 80s shopping mall’s security system overreacting, and the staff team in a submarine threatening a pointless mutiny as their vessel plunges towards Satan’s postcode. So far, so good.
‘Screaming Void’ begins with a fairly sedate riff played through a TV static filter, then the screaming starts, plus heart attack drums. “Lose the mind / Leave the body / Extinguish the soul / Relinquish the mortal coil” – this is the death metal equivalent of “I was looking for a job, and then I found a job, and heaven knows I’m miserable now”. Certainly one to share at an annual appraisal at any rate.
Additional vocals on the title track ‘Necroligion’ are provided by Erik Sahlström from Swedish goregrind legends General Surgery. Sahlström also featured on the aforementioned Gnasch record. ‘Necroligion’ repeatedly urges us to “worship the dead”, and so it should. It’s such a violent assault on the ears, it makes Metallica sound as threatening as Enya enjoying a spa day. On ‘Spiritual Declension’ it’s the turn of bassist Ben Szczemenski Waller from Bristolian ‘blackened hardcore’ band Vicarage to provide additional screams, I mean vocals. “Committed wholly to sin / Allowing chaos to consummate” – the mantra of 90s Norwegian church burners and genocidal ministers alike. ‘Spiritual Declension’ is a thumping statement, a harsh lullaby for the end times, and the soundtrack to your weekend if you’re keen on making sensible purchases.
Nekrós means dead person. Necroligion means your new favourite death metal band. What a time to be alive.
Necroligion is out now via Eggy Tapes (cassette) and Wulfhere Productions (CD)
By: Neil Laurenson