Necronomicon(CAN) - Rise of the Elder Ones
Season Of Mist
Symphonic/Blackened Death Metal
11 songs (43'29'')
Release year: 2013
Season Of Mist
Reviewed by Jared
Album of the year

Canada was probably the last area in which I would find some blackened death metal that I would to enjoy quite a bit. This three piece band has a lot of intensity for its small numbers and is indeed a force to be reckoned. Rise of the Elder Ones is Necronomicon’s fourth full length studio album and have been a quite destructive force for a lot of the metal community. This album is definitely fierce, but includes some symphonic influence in their tracks to make this heavy monster of an album feel all the more complete.

If the main dark fantasy style character on the cover which looks closely to a daedra from Skyrim didn’t immediately catch my attention, the music sure as hell did from the get go. Extreme metal has always been my focus over the last couple of years. A lot of it I’ve found has either tanked miserably, or given me a reason snap my vertebrae from excessive head banging day in and day out. The album begins in a fierce manner with the song Resurrected which includes devastating blast beating and a quick yet very rhythmic style of guitar playing. As the song slowly grows in size, the song reaches its first instance of symphonic elements. It’s a very dark and menacing symphonic metal style which I immediately found to be a perfect match for this style of blackened death metal. The album’s intensity remains consistent with the next two tracks The End of Times and The Living God. The End of Times this time around focus on more heavy double bass giving the song a much heavier feel than previous track. The Living God feels just about as heavy, if not heavier and just has some great all around guitar licks that are tough and to the point.

The track Nuclear Chaos breaks up the album from all the chaos by bringing an ambient feel to the mix with sounds that can be plainly described as strange and hellish. After this short break the album brings me to my favorite track on the entire album, From Beyond. This is one shattering piece of blackened death metal for the year. Everything this album stands for seems to perfectly meld with this one song, and it also includes one of the heaviest guitar riffs I’ve had the pleasure of hearing all year at about the two minute mark. The simple brutally hardened riff that makes up this track was indeed one of the best highlights of this album. The main title track that follows, Rise of the Elder Ones, is the simplest song on the entire album yet still sounding very suiting for this type of music. But I also had to love the implementation of symphonic influences once again which accompanies the main chorus in a great approach. These last two tracks (From Beyond and Rise of the Elder Ones) will more than likely be a bit easier to listen to for most people who may not be exactly a fan of extreme metal.

The albums intensity once again ramps up with the track The Valley of the Lost Souls which gets a bit more thrash than other songs on the record. The album does have one track called Celestial Being that focuses mainly on trying for an epic “symphonic only” sound. It’s a bit repetitive, lasting just under four minutes, and left me thinking they should have left this piece out, but it no way hurt my experience for the album which I definitely have relished in quite a bit lately.

Rise of the Elder Ones will probably go pretty underrated this year, but as an extreme metal lover, this album came at a great surprise and was one of my favorites for this second half of 2013. It may take a little while to really appreciate what is to be found here for some, but it is indeed the most solid blackened death bands and albums I’ve heard in quite a while.

Killing Songs :
Resurrected, The Living God, From Beyond, Rise of the Elder Ones, Dark Corners of the Earth
Jared quoted 92 / 100
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