Artist: Necrodeath
Title: The Age Of Fear
Label: Scarlet Records
Cat #: SC205-0
Release Year: 2011
Duration: Album
Format: CD
Packaging Type: Digipak

Necrodeath's tale is known by few. You'd be surprised to know that as of "The Age of Fear," Necrodeath had been alive for over twenty-five years and created nine full-length monsters, including "Into the Macabre" and "Fragments of Insanity," undisputed classics of the cult. I honestly had little knowledge of Necrodeath's existence before finding this retrospective collection of their works, but you know what? This band hits the spot. Solid, brutal, unrelenting and ravenous death/thrash metal with just a speck of black metal influence entrances the listening experience throughout "The Age of Fear," and while the band's strongest material clearly resides in the chambers of the 1980s, there's still little to complain about. Necrodeath slays, kids.

This fifteen-track platter shows the general gist and overall summary of Necrodeath's music throughout the band's twenty-odd year killing spree. Cuts from the faction’s post-reunion era shroud most of the release, with slicing riffs and monstrous vocals owning cuts like "Queen of Desire" or "Master of Morphine" to the brink of civilization. Not a whole lot turns away from this formula, but Necrodeath has its priorities in order, at least for the most part. If you're looking to be floored by something otherworldly and unique, though, check out the second take of "Queen of Desire," this time dubbed an "onyric" version of the anthem. Pianos, female vocals, acoustics and atmospheric melodies make up this dream-like rendition, and it's execution is simply phenomenal, miles above the original.

Recommended if you like: Dark Angel, Venom, Sodom, Bathory, Slayer, Possessed, Sarcofago, Kreator, Destruction, Iron Angel, Sabbat, Sadus, Desaster, Hobb's Angel of Death

Track Listing:
1. Mater Tenebrarum
2. Awakening Of Dawn
3. I.N.R.I
4. Smell Of Blood
5. Master Of Morphine
6. Forever Slave
7. Queen Of Desire
8. Burn And Deny
9. Hate And Scorn
10. Flame Of Malignance
11. Eucharistical Sacrifice
12. At The Mountains Of Madness
13. The Theory
14. Queen Of Desire
15. Black Magic