Year: 2024
Total Time: 46:35
Label: Agonia Records
MASSACRE is well-known to everyone and represent a band that, for 40 years now, can still attract fans’ interest thanks to their monumental debut album “From Beyond”, which was released back in 1991. Since then, its path has been unstable, mainly due to conflicts between vocalist Kam Lee and the other founding members but also due to periods of inactivity and constant line-up changes. In 2020 Kam Lee decided to reactivate MASSACRE, without any other original member involved, attempting to have a more “normal” band situation. The paradox lies in the fact that he chooses a different line-up for recordings and another for live performances. Furthermore, he begins to bombard us with constantly new releases and from 2020 until today MASSACRE have released two albums, five EPs, and countless singles!
Three years after their return album “Resurgence” and just few months after the “Tri-Apocalypse” and “Evil Dead Rise” EPs, they returned again with new material and more specific with a full-length album entitled “Necrolution”. This release features 16 new tracks (with a limited edition offering one additional song). However, the combination of their constant releases and the high number of new songs didn’t make things optimistic concerning the final result. Unfortunately, after several auditions, “Necrolution” confirmed this feeling. While the album isn’t bad, it feels like more of the same, average classic Old School Death Metal, following the footsteps of the band’s recent releases. It’s enjoyable but, after a few times of listening, you’ll likely set it aside and won’t be included in your future choices for music.
Regarding the composition of the music, Kam Lee (the only original member), assigned guitarist Jonny Pettersson to write the entire album. He tried to capture the spirit of the old MASSACRE, however the majority of his riffs sound rather simple and ordinary. Furthermore, he has not demonstrated any notable compositional abilities in the past, in the other bands he has participated in, so the expectations were already low. As for the other elements of the album, Kam Lee’s vocals are once again delightful and brutal, lyrics are referring to horror stories and the very beautiful cover art is a creation from Timbul Cahyono.
“Necrolution” could be described as a Death Metal album that, while is enjoyable to listen and has an old-school vibe, unfortunately fails to stand the test of time and to compete with other releases of the genre. I’m sure that if this album had less songs, the outcome would be completely different. The band should focus on quality rather than quantity. It is sad that, despite the fact that this release includes some good compositions (such as “The Things That Were And Shall Be Again”, “Horrors Of Hidden Truth”, and “The Colour Out Of Space”), it ends up being lost due to “Necrolution’s” predictability and repetition.
Rating: 6,5/10
Editor: Nikos Manousis
Related Link: MASSACRE – Facebook Page
