antiMusic.com: Necrowretch - With Serpents Scourge Review

Necrowretch - With Serpents Scourge

by Matt Hensch

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Nothing "With Serpents Scourge" does will ever circumvent the unhallowed embrace of Satan's arms. Necrowretch incited a bit of a to-do near my neck of the woods when they released "Putrid Death Sorcery" in 2013, an album still lingering on the list of records I need to hear. I ended up hunting this down after coming across the "Even Death May Die" EP near the ass-end of 2014, which served as a sampler to "With Serpents Scourge." Necrowretch's take on the death/black metal scheme is superior to others attempting the union due in part to the band's ability to take the evil and the filth of both sounds and make them seemingly one and the same. "With Serpents Scourge" is unrelenting mayhem from every angle, no amnesty for the righteous.

It's not going to require a vivid imagination to picture how Necrowretch operates. These tracks are designed to fit the mold of manic death metal taking large cues from the black metal aesthetic and hammering out an unholy concoction like thus. Blast beats are everywhere, the guitars curve between black metal riffs and more straightforward death metal bits � la Death or Necrophobic, and the harsh vocals are as acidic as they come. Taking all the storming parts which make up "With Serpents Scourge," superimposed on the gritty production leaving not a centimeter uncovered by filth, the lack of variety is nullified by the venomous quality running parallel to Necrowretch's assault. The riffs and melodies are superb, helping to avoid the pitfall that is the monotony of near-constant blasting-a snag ninety percent of these bands couldn't avoid if a concerned parent nailed a blinking sign above the hole.

The group is at least talented enough to give these songs faces. "Mortem Ritu" uses a slow, eerie guitar sequence to quickly build up to its pummeling eruption that sticks around but doesn't overstay its welcome. I like "Black Death Communion" and "The Bells of Evil Schism," which both have their own structures that take in different sights without driving the hellish locomotive completely off the rails. I think "Even Death May Die" is the main attraction here; its chaotic riffs and unyielding slaughter take Necrowretch's fury to a new height of madness. But all these tracks have frenzied death/black metal riffs layered upon excellent technical proficiency and enough blast beats to level a small town. That, friends, is "With Serpents Scourge" in a nutshell.
Chances are the song structures themselves won't captivate, but the unholy bedlam spewed out of "With Serpents Scourge" will more than do the trick. Notable stuff for enthusiasts of Necrophobic and other death/black metal squads looking for an extra side of blasphemy.

Necrowretch - With Serpents Scourge
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