Originally written by Ryan Plunkett
Necrophobic seems to be one of those bands that is always able to put out a solid recording; no crap periods like so many other bands. Needless to say, their latest, Bloodhymns perfectly follows this standard.
This is some superb black/death from Sweden. These guys have always seemed to have a black metal mentality, but with a great death metal sound. One thing I’ve always enjoyed about Necrophobic is they throw those short-but-sweet solos in-between those crushing riffs and cool melodic measures.
Tobias Sidegård does a great job with the vokills. There are times when he almost reminds me of Abbath from Immortal, but still holds his own original sound. Compared to The Third Antichrist, this album also has a much darker aura surrounding it, which helps Bloodhymns stand out against its predecessor.
Necrophobic uses the old tried-and-true blasphemous lyrics. At times they are creative, but blasphemy just is never original enough to get me excited. The production on this is pretty good, too. It sounds pretty similar to The Third Antichrist, but ever so slightly more polished. One thing I would’ve have like to hear would be for the drums be a little more crisp, but I think that’s just me being greedy.
In the end, Necrophobic has yet again thrown out a solid release. If you’re a fan, buy it, you won’t be disappointed. If your ears have not yet been graced by the evil entity that is Necrophobic, then I recommend checking them out; you get a pretty good bang for your buck.
