Obliteration - Nekropsalms
(Fysisk Format)

There's so much metal in so many shapes and guises out there these days that it's inevitable a proportion of bands will rage against the shimmery-shiny output of many of today's bigger acts and opt for the down and dirty approach adopted -- usually out of necessity -- by those who first kicked off the extreme metal movement. Indeed, Kolbotn's Obliteration have done just that and, while a lot of latter day old-school acts whet the whistle with demonic nods towards dirty metal's formative years, this Norwegian crew come across so authentically ancient that they could easily be mistaken as having been around during the early days of Darkthrone's bleak death metal reign. It's no wonder that Fenriz himself praises them for having succeeded in accomplishing what he and Nocturno Culto had attempted to do with "Soulside journey" and "Goatlord" between '88 and '91. Indeed, "Nekropsalms" harks right back to that era in terms of sound and song structure and offers a superb album that sounds even more old-school than some of the genuine mature stuff out there. There's not much point in highlighting examples of nostalgic vibe on this, the band's second full-length effort, when it oozes early-‘90s atmosphere from start to finish. If you want to relive the experience of discovering this type of music when it was first clawing its way out of subterranean Norway, then this is the album with which to do it. Death, doom, despair, horror and -- indeed -- Obliteration await.
- John Norby