In all my years, no one has ever said to me, “Dude, have you checked out this band Necrodeath? They crush!” For a band with over 20 years of history, that’s not a good sign (although to be fair, ten of those years were spent on hiatus.) I personally have little recollection of the band beyond hearing Black As Pitch in 2001. Looks like I’ve missed a few albums since then, but now that I’ve heard Phylogenesis, I can’t say that I’ve really missed them.
Although my affinity for thrash is well known, this is about as dull as the genre gets. Their music elicits zero emotional response, as if they were written on paper and played verbatim. The synthed vocals get tiresome after awhile, too. The package isn’t bad, its just rather boring. They do show some signs of life on “Namnlöst Spår 3,” which has a very heavy Megadeth vibe, and again on “Propitiation of the Gods” with some intense lead work. “Cloned World” is fairly solid as well but suffers from some disjointed progressions.
I’ve spun this disc several times and still find myself struggling to come up with much to say, which in and of itself should say something about its tepid nature. I don’t care if they have a “cult following” and are “renowned for [their] great live performances, and notably for their mighty ‘wall of sound’.” Phylogenesis is a boring, sleepy pile of t(h)rash that I doubt I’ll be revisiting any time soon.
