Every once and a while a band manages to make a few lineup changes and all of the sudden their sound has been elevated.  Thus is the case with Nordjevel’s latest effort Necrogenesis coming out latest this year on Osmose Productions.  Holy hell!  Does this album pair well with -50 degree weather! I must say that I had been familiar with this groups previous albums being a fan of their debut and had enjoyed their blisteringly infernal style of Black Metal.  It has been three years in between full lengths.  The debut record featured Fredrik Widigs and was quite good.  Dare I say the second full length album is a bit of upgrade in the riffing and drumming department? Enter Nils Dominator Fjellstrom handling the percussion and Destructhor (Ex-Morbid Angel, Zyklon and Myrkskog) handling the guitar work.

Necrogenesis wastes no time in pummeling the absolute hell out of the listener. The opening track “Sunset Glow” has all of the speed, and intensity of groups like Dark Funeral and Marduk but mixed with a tinge of death metal influence which is to be expected with these lineup changes on this 2019 release. It is cool hearing Destructhor playing these type of riffs.  At times, Necrogenesis reminds me of his early work in the band Odium.  If you have not check out the album The Sad Realm of Stars.  Surprisingly Odium is apparently still active and also features Nils Fjellstrom on drums (You learn something new every day).  Dominator’s drumming really is a step up over Widigs and this is not a knock to Widigs. More or less just a preference of this reviewer.

Other strong tracks on the album include “Devilry” which has one of the more death metal opening riffs on the record.  “The Idea of One-Ness” has a very cool clean intro part which minds me of Immortal Battles from the North.  “Amen Whores” is probably my favorite track on the record.  It has all of the elements of a classic traditional Norwegian Black Metal song mixed with intensity and catchiness of some of Destructhor’s other projects.  This song also has a vocal part towards middle of the song that sounds like a total ode to Attila and Keep of Kalessin’s “Come Damnation”. Another thing I rather like about Necrogenesis is when there are guitar solos they are mixed a bit differently and have a bit of a different sound which adds a bit to the ambience.

Overall, this a highly enjoyable over forty minute album that is sure to please many listeners. For those of you like for a hyper aggressive brutal black metal record.  Look no further.  Well done Osmose productions!

[Visit the band's website]

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