CD reviews - N

NAPALM DEATH (UK) "CORRIDORS OF BLOOD" CD bootleg Live Vosselar 5/7/92. Putain y'a pas à chier, c'était quand même que'que chos'! Even with a bad sound like this recording, they had it done each time I'm listening to a NAPALM DEATH bootleg, killer Live ambiance as only NAPALM DEATH did in early nineties, this fuckin' rules forever, 18 tracks for 42mn, I tire my reverence!
NAPALM DEATH (UK) "ENEMY OF THE MUSIC BUSINESS" CD 2000 DREAM CATCHER. There's been a while I haven't heard the real NAPALM DEATH! So many clones around them now! Well, I won't say that I like their change in new musical direction but I can say that they stayed fucking aggressive & extreme with this album. It now belongs more to the grind/hardcore metal scene to me, just an energy that fits in the "modern" world. I had some pleasures while listening some of the riffs but I'm not as enthusiast as when they recorded their 4 first albums, still fucking blasting as mad but that's very different from what they used to play. Anyway, big fucking cheers to them for not wimping out after all these years in the Extreme underground Metal scene!
NARCOTIC GREED (JAP) "TWICET OF FATE" CD 2001 WORLD CHAOS. I had a great surprise as I never heard of this band before, as always, you see names of bands here & there but never got the opportunity to look & listen to their art! Quite good quality Thrash Metal band here, a long time passed without receiving such a good and true old-school Thrash Metal release since maybe... DARK ANGEL?! NARCOTIC GREED are much more technical, very original & epic like if Blind Guardian get rid of the synths but with more complex & catchy dark riffings, the vocals are great too, between Dark Angel, Slayer, Scorpions (!), Exodus & Accept!! That are all the bands he makes me think about, the music is also reminiscent of these bands too (also newer DEATH band too!), makes me travelling 15 years ago when all the Thrash/Heavy Metal bands were dominating this world of chaos by soulful battle axe music! Damn great to hear that in year 2001, I enjoy it very much!! Well, as you may understand it now, this is only for real & true Thrash Metal maniacs & freaks: BUY OR DIE, NARCOTIC GREED smells the cult, great powerful feelings, this is brilliant!!! c/o HIROSHI YAMASHITA, 6 - 19 - 6, TOYOSATO, HIGASHI - YODOGAWA, OSAKA, 533-0013 JAPAN. sen6666@aol.com http://members.aol.com/sen6666/ber.html WORLD CHAOS Prods: NEW LIGHT BLD. 406, 2-25-6 HINGO BUNKYO-KU TOKYO JAPAN 113-0033. Worldkdm@syd.odn.ne.jp
NATRON (ITA) "BEDTIME FOR MERCY" CD 2000 HOLY. Fucking disappointing... Now plunging in the deathcore trends, this is no longer a Death Metal band to me! They remain technical for sure but they should change the name of the band in my opinion, plus the clean sound isn't for me but the most shitty are the vocals style a la new Cryptopsy and they now got too much of those repetitives indus riffing... The band had two good Demos and an excellent first album, then progressively changed to something more modern, it's a trend that is not acclaimed here. While there are some interesting arrangements here and there, I don't get into that new direction. Too much bands do that nowadays, and some are even worse, when will it stop definitively?
NATRON (ITA) "NEGATIVE PREVAILS" CD 99 HOLY. This new one appears musically less interesting to my ears, very predictable compared to their first "Hung, Drawn & Quartered". The power chords & voice do not help me to like it, while they obviously play extreme & Brutal Death, that's maybe not what I was expecting after a great original first album. That's a good one but maybe a little disappointing as it doesn't follow my expectations. Now more common technical Brutal Death Metal the American style, maybe the sound & voice aren't for me but they're great musicians anyway. If you can't get bored, then I highly recommend anyone to buy it but I'd rather prefer some more extreme & twisted musicianship anyway.
NAUSEOUS SURGERY (BRA) "ABOMINABLE VOICES" CD 2001 Self-prod. 3 tracks + intro and a rehearsal + live as bonus tracks. Raging Death Metal with a raw sound, sometimes untight but always sounding good to my ears, I like more recordings like that than the clean modern & mega-tight releases that doesn't hide any secrets in the music, NAUSEOUS SURGERY has its own charm because of this crude playing. Truly old-school rooted and from the real underground traditions: catchy riffs will forever be remembered anywhere anytime. A good CD to discover the band's potential in the vein of old SADISTIC INTENT and INFERNAL, I recommend this to all underground freaks only! c/o JUNIOR SURGERY, PO BOX 9928, 70001-970 BRASILIA DF BRAZIL. nauseous.surgery@zipmail.com
NECROLOGY (HOL) "MALIGNANCY DEFINED" CD 2000 GREAT WHITE NORTH. Super-Brutal & technical Death Metal band from the nether lands of Doom!! They got everything: fast, violent, aggressive, excellent leads and brutal Death grunts! Not your common Gore Death band, this one's more in the vein of newer CANNIBAL CORPSE, old SUFFOCATION or CRYPTOPSY, PROFANITY due to their excellence in musicianship, there's a plenty of quick twisted riffs, breaks, unpredictables arrangements and pounding songs structures, all this performed with shredding extremity in the US style such as GORGASM, INCESTUOUS & DEEDS OF FLESH but NECROLOGY really differs by their originality and catchiness. They do not only satisfy themselves just playing in a style, they also are capables of creating their own which is something I love in Death Metal, breeding pure Evilution!! Technical, brutal, fast, tight Death Metal with leads, this smells the Canadian way a lot! I love this new band, they have understand the meaning of Death! The last 6 tracks aren't that great, certainly their Demo because the sound & style differs from the beginning of the album. That Demo's good too and is similar to our french INNERFEUDS, interesting Death Metal materials done the classic way, fucking well executed with an heavy raw sound, just the average vocals made it sometimes disappointing, especially when he starts screaming after a good Death grunt. There are some cool morbid arrangements here and there in the vein of old BROKEN HOPE too. Well, a good CD indeed, BUY OR DIE!! c/o REMMERT VOSBERGEN, GEERTEVELD 84, 1541 PK KOOG A/D ZAAN THE NETHERLANDS. Necrologyofficial@hotmail.com http://listen.to/necrology GREAT WHITE NORTH Recs: C.P. 5705, STE-JULIENNE, QUEBEC, CANADA J0K 2T0.
NECRONOMICON (CAN) "PHARAOH OF GODS" CD 99 HYPNOTIC INTL. Great surprise to see them coming back with an excellent Occult Death Metal album full of egyptian mysteries. The newly recorded version of "The Silver Key" doesn't get the same impact as when I first heard it on their debut MCD, the voice of bassist Kate is a little more "Live" sounding in this track and doesn't suit perfectly in my ears, it is as well as the album, less brutal, a little slower and more atmospheric. It sounds very old-school and epic, just like listening to NILE's "Festivals Of Atonement" but NECRONOMICON has some MORBID ANGEL, old AMORPHIS and BOLT THROWER similarities. The sound is of course top-class Metal quality while sometimes their structures seem a little empty and left me waiting for the next riff...until track 5...to 9! Definitely an original album even if sometimes I found some riffs a little too simples & repetitives, some also too similars from song to song but their unique techniques & tightness helps to forget these details, the drummer is great for instance. This may sound a little outdated for some of you now but I like it a lot, so fuck you, let's hope they will turn a lot more extreme, faster and more brutal like NILE do! BUY OR DIE! 86 MAIN STREET, SUITE 401, TOWN CENTRE PLAZA. DUNDAS, ONTARIO, CANADA L9H 2R1. hypnotic@istar.ca www.hypnoticrecords.com
NECROPHAGIST (GER) "ONSET OF PUTREFACTION" CD 2000 NOISE SOLUTION/VELVET. Definitely a real Death Metal lesson from this guy, now practically alone in his own "band", Muhamed Suiçmez performs rhythm & lead guitars, vocals & drum programmings... (if you don't know it, you simply can't point it at first 'cos it sounds like a real band) Also wrote all lyrics in this 8 tracks requiem of putrefactives hatred emanations! Yes, it's real Death Metal that I'm talking about now, no fungrindgorenoiseshit, this is truly superior and stronger, offering a higher quality, he deserves immense respect for that he kills many other established bands with "Onset Of Putrefaction"! The way he constructs the riffs & structures the songs reminds me SINISTER & MASS PSYCHOSIS, old NOCTURNUS with quick, tight, subtle, ultra-complex, maniac, original & twisted arrangements with no limits, right to the point with a technical level that is envious to all guitarists, he simply rules at staying brutal & fucking morbid all the way, a real morbid Death Metal virtuose & a guitar-warrior!!! He sometimes has that old Metallica melodic interlude. I hope that he didn't betray with sampled guitars & stuffs like that... so I can stay with that great first impressed feeling forever! It's a thousand lot better than Infestdead. Certainly the most supreme & hallucinating release of the millenium, everyone who cares about musicianship must BUY OR DIE or you'll regret it for the rest of your days!! TRUE DEATH METAL WITH HIGHER FEELINGS!!! POSTFACH 21 09 25, 76159 KARLSRUHE GERMANY. sumu0011@fh-karlsruhe.de
NECROSANCT (UK) "EQUAL IN DEATH" CD 90 METALWORKS. Beloved old-school maniax, this was again a jewel of raw brutality like it was meant to be 15 years ago! An excellent blast for your eardrums that I just checked out recently from a second hand records shop as I had it from tape trading years ago, thrashing Death & old Metal now on CD just for my personal pleasure and I wanted to share it with you: BUY OR DIE!
NECROTERIO (BRA) "Lament Of Flesh" CD 2000 ALTERNATYVA. This, as you can imagine is another great old-school underground release from Brazil of Death! The intro is made of real dark keyboards and the music consists of guttural Death/Evil grunts, fat & fast thrashing guitars with excellent catchy riffs a la DEMONIC CHRIST's first album only more brutal but in the same spirit, warrior-alike Death Metal with a vengeance! Raw sound from Hell that shreds & slashes the christians skin, re-burying the bones of jesus even deeper than ever with blasting drums that sometimes recalls the old DEEDS OF FLESH, less extreme and more classic. I think that it is an album that I'll try to get in my collection in a very near future: old-school Death/Evil Metal fucking rules & fumes, BUY OR DIE!!!!!
NEFAS (ITA) "SEVEN TIMES SEVEN" CD 2003 BONES BRIGADE. That's maybe one of the few bands I was hungry about lurking at Death's door & hoping listening to a full-length album!! It's now done in a victorious artwork apparition!! Twisted & obscure/occult Death Metal that's now similar to DAMNATION only more technical & quick like old IMMOLATION with a mega-raw sound reluctant for trendy ears! Everything in this album pleases me, the sulfuric mood emanates directly from beyond the ancient times and I breathe a massive dose of suffocating vibrations mutating into an evil fume taking possession of all beings around… Their brutal grinding sound will sure make some noise in the mouthes of the Death Metal fans, it's almost saturated but audible I can assure you, my BUY OR DIE is always deserved and with "Seven Times Seven", I can't be wrong! Death Metal the NEFAS way can only please the true fans of abstract twisted music, uncommon structures can only be played & listened by a few, that's the way it has always been, a non-repetitive form of music performed in their very own way, people looking for originality first should turn their hands onto NEFAS, definitely the best Italian band, re-BUY OR re-DIE!! Cult! c/o DARIO/TOM PAGOTTO, VIA II LIRICO. 10, 20133 MILAN ITALY. FABIO COVIELLO, VIA FERRARI 12, 27010 BASCAPE (PV) ITALY. nefas_xul@yahoo.it nefas1@infinito.it http://come.to/nefas BONES BRIGADE: BP 31, 62140 HESDIN FRANCE. http://bones.brigade.free.fr
NEHËMAH (FRA) "LIGHT OF A DEAD STAR" CD 2001 OAKEN SHIELD. Typical Black Metal from the woods of Trolls & Schtroumpfs, I can see Gargamël running for Azraël's ass! Seriously, this is Black Metal of very underground nature, some tunes are fast, some other slow & other mid-paced but nothing attracted me apart for the first tune which was a fast one. For fans only. beauty3@wanadoo.fr
NEPHASTH (BRA) "IMMORTAL UNHOLY TRIUMPH" CD 2001 MIGHTY MUSIC. Fucking good Death Metal band from Brazil once again! Very in the vein of first REBAELLIUN releases, it sounds very similar! The band delivers great apocalyptic tunes & killer leads from beyond, not that extreme but total Death Metal feelings flow from the speakers of Death, very catchy riffs and memorable structures the way KRISIUN did some years ago, this grabs me to the bones and I couldn't escape until the last note! Unfortunately, the album lasts half an hour which is a little too short for me as I always reach for more extremes every day, the longer it gets, the better it is in my opinion! They also can create some MORBID ANGEL-alike feelings & breaks here and there… This is soon to be a cult classic of Brazilian Death Metal, BUY OR DIE!! PO BOX 8555, 91900-970 PORTO ALEGRE/RS BRASIL. nephasth@terra.com.br
NEURAXIS (CAN) "TRUTH BEYOND…" CD 2003 MORBID. Yeah, NEURAXIS' back with a powerful Metal album, which is at the same time aggressive, brutal & melodic, hum, to the point of being very similar to the old KATAKLYSM in my opinion… I like some of the twisted riffs a la old HUMAN REMAINS but I was more enthusiast when they had their first album out, this new one mixes too much newer styles which I'm not very fond of, I think the vocals can't please me at all, grunting, hardcorish to high pitch screaming… This can't catch my interest, maybe yours? C.P. 210, SUCE. C MONTREAL PQ HL2 4K1 CANADA. neoblast@yahoo.com www.neuraxis.org
NIDAFELL (FRA) "In exelsis" CD 99 Self-prod. Doom Metal that turned me on, guttural voice & depressive tunes with choirs of melancholy and some synths well used here & there, cool dark band, deserves to be heard believe me!
NIHILIST (SWE) "Drowned In Shreds Of Autopsy" CD MASTERCULT. Who had ever dreamt of this? But all Death Metal maniacs pardy! "Drowned" Demo 89 + "Only Shreds Remain" Demo 2/88 + "Premature Autopsy" Demo 1/88 + "Bootleg Rehearsal" EP 88 and "Live at Ultra Huset, Stockholm 20/11/88". All these 19 tracks on one bootleg CD not really well made as the sound saturates too much sometimes, the original Demos didn't go so loud.
NILE (USA) "BLACK SEEDS OF VENGEANCE" CD 2000 RELAPSE. They're back!! And they aren't changing style at all, kept continuing from "Among The Catacombs..." with more & more of those obscures atmospheres. Mummifying Death Metal in the labyrinths of the pyramids, evoking eternal gods of war & vengeance, haunting as a storm of sands & ferocious as a possessed crocodile, "Black Seeds Of Vengeance" is an awesome, overpowering true Death Metal albumination that leaves absolutely nothing for the weak, constructed like a soundtrack to a movie of ancient Egypt, another important stone in the making of the Death Metal temple, the foundations of a real Death Metal Empire are now taking form upon "Black Seeds Of Vengeance", BUY OR DIE IN THE MAZE OF DEATH!! PO BOX 6062, GREENVILLE, SC. 29606-6062 USA. www.nile-catacombs.com
NILE (USA) "IN THEIR DARKEST SHRINES" CD 2002 RELAPSE. Pharaos & Sphynx can be proud of this band, really important Death Metal encryption, full of snakeish riffs from the maze of the pyramids always finding the exit ways to the mortal world. I must admit that only NILE kept the true Death Metal sound these last years while other bands changed to modern productions that couldn't restitute one morbid feel, also skilled Death Metal bands are pretty rares nowadays and they can do it all the same on stage so that's even more rare! You'll find here all what you have to hear to transport you in ancient Egypt, meeting the war gods and the sacred spirits of Death Metal abominations, soulful is a word that perfectly belongs to NILE's music, not only brutal but also atmospheric that really takes you in a doomy/chaotic mood from beyond... Music is powerful and NILE understand it to the point of not letting you returning to the real life... BUY OR DIE!!!
NOMEN MORTIS (SLO) "HOW I LEARN TO BLEED... FOR THE THINGS I WISH TO FORGET" CD 2000 JACKHAMMER. Another unknown band to me was NOMEN MORTIS and they're quite good. Old-school Death Metal with really deep vocals like if Purgatory were more guttural, fast riffs and technical as well, tight drums and emotional solos with slow breaks & atmospheres here and there. That's 100% pure & true Death Metal aggression with definitely something their own... Some high vocals can be heard far engulfed in the mix, that reminds me of Intestine Baalism but this Slovak band is not melodic and so more interesting! Really, a Death Metal of high quality here, recommended to all those who want discovering more than just listening to the bigger well-known bands supported everywhere they go, this one's far away with original tunes and does not sounds like everyone. BUY OR DIE!
NOVEMBERS DOOM (USA) "The Knowing" CD 2000 DARK SYMPHONIES. There are some original riffing into this album but it's way too similar to old PARADISE LOST, simply not my taste of music, it's too sweet sometimes... The album has some interesting parts but it won't stay in my stereo for a long time, just listening to it once or twice and then I'm bored, long playing time!
NUCLEAR DEATH (USA) "BRIDE OF INSECT/CARRION FOR WORM" CD 2000 EXTREMIST. Excellent re-edition of the two most cult albums of the undeground!!!!! Many of the new metallers don't know this band for sure, these two albums came out early 90s on tape & vinyl format as well as another release called "For Our Dead" Tape EP 92, then they had "All Creatures Great And Eaten" Tape LP 93 on Cat's Meow label and a couple more Demos & EPs before in late 80s. Well, to explain the style of NUCLEAR DEATH, I think their name speaks for itself, this is raw, Evil & vicious, perverted, twisted & bizarre Extreme Nuclear Metal like you have never heard before & after them! The intro on "Fetal Lament: Homesick", ...it's pure deranging & depressing vibes, the voice of Laura Bravo was sick & enraged, better than many old Death/Thrash vocalists, the guitars were fast, insanes & grinding, the drums speed pounding & apocalyptic, blasting all flesh & souls around! Pretty inspiring & intense haunting band with real twisted ideas in their arrangements, all those newer Black Metal did invented nothing, NUCLEAR DEATH already did it better years before them in late 80s, breeding pure sick Extreme Nuclear Metal chaos & spreading their blood of abominations upon this world of Doom! The most disappointing thing is that they now are completely going on with a different approach, no extreme Metal anymore but more experimental atmospheric and doing soundtracks... But it's now time for all of you to rectify your mistake if you missed, this band will be forever remembered with these two cult masterpieces of real extremities now re-released and engraved in collections of Death Metal immortality!!! BUY OR FUCKING DIE!!! Fucking cult! PO BOX 43424, PHOENIX, AZ. 85080-3424 USA. laura@nucleardeath.com www.nucleardeath.com
NUNSLAUGHTER (USA) "Radio damnation" CD 2000 BARBARIAN WRATH (Limited to 666!). Recorded 27/04/2000 at THE WRUW RADIO STATION in Cleveland/OHIO. Those who are following the Death Metal underground for more than a decade knows this long time running band for sure! Evil Death Metal is their game and of the most primitive & raw form, sort of old OBITUARY turning to ACHERON, you've got NUNSLAUGHTER! This is a raw recording and fits well with the band's own reputation, a jewel that all true Death Metal fans & freaks of the 1ère heure must BUY OR DIE!!