Necrophobic

Satanic Blasphemies

Strangulationmutilationcancerofthebrain! | Regain

All great bands have to start somewhere, but while some demos by legendary acts can be damn near unbearable to hear (if you’ve never heard the Velvet Underground’s demos, consider yourself very fortunate), some, like Necrophobic, hit the ground running. Hot on the heels of their excellent sixth album, Death to All, comes Satanic Blasphemies, a nicely-timed collection of rare material from the affable Swedes. Comprised of 1990’s Slow Asphyxiation demo, 1991’s Unholy Prophecies demo and 1992’s The Call EP, not only is it a valuable slice of Swedish death metal history neatly repackaged by the folks at Regain, but it serves as a very cool listening experience for those more familiar with the band’s more fully realized musical incarnation of the last three years.

Sure, their Slayer fandom went far beyond the rather obvious band name, but those blatant, flamboyant Hell Awaits riffs and tempos on early tracks like “Retaliation” and the catchy “Slow Asphyxiation,” recorded with a murkiness reminiscent of Possessed, are irresistible despite the clattering drum sound, bassist Stefan Zander’s growl corny but effective. Highlighted by the outstanding “Sacrificial Rites,” the ’91 demo was a significant step forward, Crematory’s Stefan Harrvik handling the lead vocals brilliantly, but The Call sees the band truly starting to form an identity of its own, new bassist and eventual frontman Tobias Sidegård making his debut, the early versions of “The Ancients Gate” and “Father of Creation” near masterful in their rough-hewn execution, eventually paving the way for the much-loved debut full-length The Nocturnal Silence.

—Adrien Begrand

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