Necro Deathmort – ‘Music Of Bleak Origin’ Album Review

The name Necro Deathmort is not a subtle one, nor does it inspire much confidence, but to avoid this immensely talented duo would be an immense error because while their name might suggest otherwise, they actually craft music of immense depth and subtlety combining the instrumental slow-build nous of Mogwai’s post rock with huge banks of distorted synths, a touch of psychedelia and a nod in the direction of the ambient soundscapes of The Resonance Association.

The very first thing you’ll notice about “music of bleak origin” is the stunning artwork. On a par with the beautiful, bespoke art of Swans, the CD comes packaged inside a massive poster (which comprises the whole booklet) which features the amazing drawing of Dominic Hailstone – a striking black and white sketch that contains all sorts of hidden detail and which perfectly sums up the music that is found within. It is this sort of attention to detail and obvious time and care invested in the presentation of their work that sets NDM apart and it is something that fans will treasure, although be warned: it’s limited to a thousand pieces only.

Like the artwork, the album is a striking piece of work that contains hidden depths that only expose themselves with time. A subtle and mature work, NDM largely deal in atmosphere, weaving huge sonic tapestries around the listener before leaving them to evaporate into the ether. Opening track ‘Jaffanaut’ is but a brief introduction, marrying squally but controlled guitars to a solid, industrial beat and then allowing the track to reach a crescendo before slowly fading out, the needles of the mixer slowly dropping back to zero before ‘in binary’ slowly hauls itself out of the mire with a MASSIVE riff and a BPM that is only marginally faster than your average Khanate track. Voices scream from somewhere inside the darkness, but they’re muted and submerged between the raging metallic tides and it is the banks of guitars that slowly build upon one another that sit comfortably in the foreground, slowly building into a tsunami of hope-sapping proportions. It is stunning in its magnitude and at high volumes positively overwhelming (although my neighbours frown at such things at quite such an early hour) and it’s easy to imagine that this is what Nine Inch nails would have sounded like jamming with Ulver (whom NDM have supported) if only Trent had been a fan of Neurosis.

‘Temple of Juno’ sees the guitars pared down a touch, allowing the listener a moment to breathe although the atmosphere is still claustrophobic thanks to a huge throbbing bass line that serves to suck the oxygen out of the room. The beats, synth based, are inhuman and utterly remorseless and the result is music that relentlessly marches towards you, obliterating light and feelings and becoming the only thing in the room as it slowly expands, incorporating myriad elements, until it blocks out the stars. It is fascinating, beautiful and incomprehensibly dark with stunning melodies woven into its obsidian fabric and you quite simply never want it to end. While the previous track may lull you into a poisoned sleep, there is no such dark caresses with ‘Uberlord’ which introduces itself with a single detuned guitar that rings out over stuttering electronics. It has a soundtrack feel to it, as if you are being introduced to the titular lord only to discover that he wields darkness and power as a weapon, unleashing searing blackness upon his underlings at will. The guitar riff is corrosive, poisonous and painfully loud and it is something of a relief when you make it to the other side and encounter the watery beats of ‘for your own good’ which, rather oddly, sounds like it belongs on Radiohead’s ‘Kid A’ albeit with a greater sense of purpose.

Stepping into full on Dub mode, necro Deathmort return to harder pastures with the clanking, industrial horror of ‘devestating vector’, a dark, rumbling blast of beats, distorted bass and whispered snatches of voices it maintains the soundtrack feel of the album and wonderfully recreates the feeling a claustrophobic might get when trapped in a pitch-black lift. ‘Blizzard’, meanwhile, is the Terminator’s soundtrack re-imagined by Aphex twin and Faithless and sampled though banks of distortion to create a menacing vision of the future while ‘the heat death of everything’ successfully integrates devastating swathes of Swans-esque guitar and feral screams to create a musical version of Dante’s Inferno. After such a cataclysmic track, ‘moon’ soothes the fevered brow with gentle ambient effects and a melody not unlike the effortlessly terrifying soundtrack to ‘Full metal jacket’. It is a sinister close to an album which has so much to offer it’s hard to know where to start when recommending it.

Ultimately the name Necro Deathmort deserves to be on your lips if you have any interest at all in experimental, ambient metal. If the names Axis of Perdition, Ulver or Lustmord mean anything to you, then this mix of the subtle and the extreme, the sublime and the physically repellent, will undoubtedly provide you with a new soundtrack to your nightmares. Moreover the art and care that has gone into the overall package means that this is a body of work that has to be appreciated as a whole – indeed the best way to appreciate this album is to spend the first track looking in awe at the poster-booklet and then to switch off the lights and let the music flow over you. Disturbing and soothing in equal measure, this is a quite remarkable release.