Band:	Necrophobic
Album:	Hrimthursum
Style:	Melodic black metal, Melodic death metal
Release date:	2006
Guest review by:	Qualeen

01. The Slaughter Of Baby Jesus
02. Blinded By Light, Enlightened By Darkness
03. I Strike With Wrath
04. Age Of Chaos
05. Bloodshed Eyes
06. The Crossing
07. Eternal Winter
08. Death Immaculate
09. Sitra Ahra
10. Serpents (Beneath The Forest Of The Dead)
11. Black Hate
12. Hrimthursum

It is difficult to label Necrophobic accurately, but doing so could help a newcomer find out if this is the band they are looking for. The band is sometimes referred to as a blackened death metal formation, often with 'melodic' attached. However, the melodic quality is achieved in an uncommon fashion; Necrophobic make sure to drop so many tritones and semitones in their melodies that if one was to take a sip of whiskey every time those intervals appeared, they would die rather quickly. Hrimthursum is melodic indeed, but in its own sinister way. Generally speaking, if you assert your expectations for Necrophobic's output on the basis of their name, you will get exactly what you expect.

One of the album's most outstanding strengths is its amount of *clear* highlights. The first song on the album is an epic warcry, and it transitions very smoothly into "Blinded by Light, Enlightened by Darkness", which contains some of the most memorable melodies on here, as well as the undeniably charismatic line "As I walk through the gateway...". Furthermore, the outro to "The Crossing" is an icing on the cake of an already brilliant song, while the acoustic intro to "Sitra Ahra" helps the listener immerse themself into the song, thereby greatly enhancing the listening experience. All of "Eternal Winter" is also remarkable, but primarily so thanks to its main anthemic motif. Finally, the title track is a touch of something that perhaps the entire album could benefit from more: inclusion of a female background choir and greater emphasis on the ominousness of the sonic landscape painted before us.

Like any other piece of music, however, Hrimthursum is not without flaws (although they are flaws which truly do not outweigh the assets). The drumming, while always remaining appropriate to the song it accompanies, can appear monotonous to a listener who happens to focus thereon. Additionally, the album structure - an intro + eleven proper songs of similar length, with a similar atmosphere, and attempting to achieve similar results, following one another without interludes - can be tiresome. The listener is only able to rest from the blastbeats, tremolo picking and palm-muting during a few acoustic moments and some of the album's melodious peaks. I wish to add that a number of tracks, such as "Death Immaculate", "Bloodshed Eyes" and "Serpents (Beneath the Forest of the Dead)", left me unimpressed, though certainly that effect is reinforced by the similarity of all songs in nature. Perhaps, then, we should say that conversely to the frequency of moments of greatness being the album's major strength, the number of seemingly uninspired bits is Hrimthursum's little weakness.

Although for some folks this album could be difficult to digest, it is nonetheless rewarding if one manages to do so. The dissonant melodies ally with the morbid atmosphere to keep the listener intrigued for a considerable amount of spins. Now, please excuse me as I walk through the gateway...