NECROS/ ABNORM Split tape
REVIEWS

ABYSMAL SCULPTURES Zine (Singapore)
8 songs. 30 mins total running time. 4 songs per band. I can say Necros has a good brand of classic Death Melal song writing & having great presence of the true art including the average raw sound with a cool cover of Incantation. For Abnorm: They had a litlle much darker touch of Death metal with slight presence of Mayhem but they still belong to the cult sound of Death metal à la early Cannibal Corpse etc. I should encourage more bands to play something more define Death metal to be distinct from others. Like what they're doing is hardly heard these days.  

ANCIENT DEATH Webzine (Usa)
I must admit, I don't know a whole lot about the underground metal scene in France. I'm always eager to hear new bands though, especially when they sound as great as the two on this album. This album was released by Nihilistic Holocaust, an excellent webzine and label from France. Released on cassette with a very old school looking cover drawn by Thierry Demarez, this split between Abnorm and Necros turned out to be absolutely killer.

Necros is the first band you hear with three originals and a cover. They are a fairly new band that was originally known as Torment Pain until 2006 when the name was changed. If you like old school death metal then you are definitely going to like these guys. Their sound is absolutely crushing as they rip through their three tracks with the killer "Bloody Throne" being the one I liked most. They decided to pay tribute to the legendary Incantation with a cover of "Anoint the Chosen" from their album The Infernal Storm. I am highly impressed with Necros and hope these guys put out a full length album in the near future.

The second half of the split is from the band Abnorm. These guys play a mix of death and thrash with some black metal influences and are equally as talented as Necros. The only reason their side of the split may not sound as good is the production. It really doesn't bother me at all but it does sound a bit on the thin side. From the deep roaring growls and thundering bass lines of frontman N.B. and the mix of mid-paced thrash riffs and tremolo picking of guitarists K.D. and L.C., to the above average drumming performed by T.C., the guys in Abnorm sound great. This turned out to be a great split worth listening to over and over again. For anyone that wants to check out what France has to offer in underground metal, you definitely can't go wrong by starting with this release! 

BRUTALISM Webzine (Hol)
Two rather unknown bands from France teamed up for this Split tape. It contains about 30 minutes of total playing time and was launched by the hard working guys and girls at Nihilistic Holocaust Distribution. The tape starts with four tracks of Necros. The band offers raw and dark underground Death Metal in the vein of Incantation and Acheron. Mid-tempo based passages turn into faster parts and also into crushing slower stuff. So there are some alternations to satisfy your need for non-commercial Death Metal. In my opinion, the dark vocals are a little bit too one-dimensional and a few more changes would surely enhance the songs. The sound quality is also true underground. Don´t get me wrong: I´m not talking about a dreadful garage recording, but about an adequate sound pattern. The cover of Incantations “Anoint The Chosen” closes the first part of this tape with style and the song doesn´t differ very much from the bands own material. Abnorm is responsible for the next four tracks and the band also offers a raw and dark brewage of Death Metal with some Black Metal orientated riffs. Abnorm plays a faster and thrashier style than their Split partners Necros. The only exception is the last track, which is a mid-tempo based number without any blast beats. Unfortunately the songs are a bit subdued by the recording quality. Nevertheless Abnorms aim to deliver dark Death / Black Metal without any compromise could not be overlooked. In any case, this tape is suitable for utter underground maniacs and those who are into gruff and solid Death Metal. 3 / 5 points. (review by Alex) 

CAMPAIGN FOR MUSICAL DESTRUCTION Webzine (Ger)
Nihilistic Holocaust bewerben dieses Split-Tape mit den Worten "2 Upcoming Death/Black bands from France, 30 minutes of underground metal the obscure way!". Das kann man durchaus so stehen lassen. G hat auf alle Fälle wieder 2 hörenswerte, old schoolige Horden ausgebuddelt und auf diesem Tape mit ca. 30minütiger Gesamtspielzeit verewigt. Den Anfang machen NECROS mit 3 Eigenkompositionen und dem INCANTATION-Cover "Anoint The Chosen". Die Tatsache, dass INCANTATION gecovert werden, führt eine/n schon auf die richtige Fährte, denn die Amis scheinen bei den französischen Satansbraten Eindruck hinterlassen zu haben. AUTOPSY offensichtlich auch, denn an die erinnern NECROS ebenfalls manchmal (ohne deren Klasse zu erreichen, aber welche Band vermag das schon?). Ok, gut geklaut ist halb gewonnen, aber von einem Abklatsch zu sprechen, ist nicht gerechtfertigt. NECROS haben genügend eigene Ideen in petto und können mit ziemlich abwechslungsreichem Songwriting überzeugen. Da wird satt geblastet, gegroovt, geschleppt und im richtigen Moment auch schon mal vom Black Metal-Kuchen (Schwarzwälder Kirsch?, hehe!) genascht, ohne dass der Gesamtfluss verloren gehen würde. Und alles in alter Schule Manier, sowie mit verdammt düsterem Einschlag ausgerüstet. Auch der Sänger lässt sich nicht lumpen, kennt kein Erbarmen und steuert seine unmenschlichen Laute bei. ABNORM (nicht zu verwechseln mit der deutschen Pseudogrindband!) können da leider nicht ganz mithalten, obwohl auch sie sich Mühe geben. Nach einem Intro rödeln sie 3mal los. Der Sound ist gerade noch ok, mehr allerdings nicht. ABNORM gehen primitiver und thrashiger als ihre Splitkollegen zur Sache und preschen dabei manchmal arg holprig durchs todes- bzw. schwarzmetallische Unterholz, was besonders beim ersten Song nicht so toll kommt. Dass sie es besser können, beweisen sie mit "Schemes Of Hate And Denial" (schöner Black Metal-Eischlag übrigens). Beim Rausschmeißer "The Dead End Path Passenger" hängt man die rumpeligen Uptempo-Ausbrüche gänzlich an den Nagel, holt stattdessen die Dampfwalze raus uns schleppt sich doomig und richtiggehend atmosphärisch ins Ziel. Na bitte, es geht doch. Warum nicht gleich so? Nettes Split-Tape jedenfalls, welches insbesondere für Old Schooler/innen interessant sein dürfte.

CARBONIZED CELLS Fanzine (Fra)
G from NH is always still obsessed by the true Metal of Death, this tape prove it one more time. So, here we have two young blood French bands involved in the obscure, oppressive way of Black/Death Metal. The tape starts with NECROS, who’s during 4 tracks (including a INCANTATION cover), offers to us dark pieces influenced by the old glories of US Death Metal and particularly the Mc Entee’s band. After an occult intro, the chaos starts and we have some fucking twisted breaks between tormented accelerations, followed by heavy part and a dark lead guitar, incredible, this first track is the best, no doubt! Bloody Throne shows to us the chaos and the mid tempo efficiency at his best, killer too! Gehenna is more about oppressive ambiance and it works hehe ! Their side finishes on the cover of Anoint The Chosen. Now ABNORM playing and I must to say that their blasphemies are very insane too! The production is more stifled and makes the ambiance deepest, great ! The instrument’s control is impressive, especially the drums. I think Shemes of hate and denial, the second track, is a good definition of their style with arpeggios, twisted riffs, destructive breaks, excellent ! They sounds more blackened than NECROS sound, with thrashing parts, closer than IMMOLATION. The only thing I don’t like very much is the voice, raw enough and maybe “too much” for me. For conclusion, 2 excellent bands you should follow if you are into this hellish side of Death Metal!  KILLER!

CRYPTIC MADNESS Webzine (Fra)
Avant toute chose, je déconseille ce split à tous ceux qui connaissent déjà l’une des formations. Pourquoi ? Parce que NECROS et ABNORM sont deux petits groupes français n’ayant sorti en fait qu’une seule démo chacun… Et cette tape sortie chez Nihilistic Holocaust ne fait que reprendre les 2 démos sur un seul support. Après, c’est à vous de voir, mais je préfère prévenir.
Maintenant que c’est dit, parlons musique.
Les formations sont assez semblables. Elles œuvrent toutes deux dans un death métal plutôt old school avec des relents black. Leur musique est assez intéressante, avec une certaine pêche et surtout beaucoup de noirceur. Ils ne sont pas là pour plaisanter. Le tempo est plutôt soutenu (plus chez NECROS) sans non plus partir dans le bourrinage bête et con. On est comme écrasé par ces riffs sentant la cave pleine d’enfants violés et torturés. Glauque, sordide même, les mecs ont vraiment cherché à poser une ambiance sombre et non à en foutre plein la gueule.  Bien entendu, il y a quelques accélérations, et ce dans les deux groupes, mais ce n’est pas le maitre mot. ABNORM d’ailleurs est bien plus calme, plus lourd. NECROS n’hésite pas à accélérer le tempo quand le besoin s’en fait sentir, le rendant plus varié et donc plus intéressant (mais comme je l’ai dit, ils restent assez proches musicalement).
Malheureusement, quand je dis « plus intéressant » dans le paragraphe d’au dessus, ce n’est pas pour autant que je trouve la musique passionnante. Ce n’est pas mauvais, loin de là, mais on retrouve pas mal de longueurs au sein des morceaux. Certains passages font un peu piquer du nez. C’est une première démo pour chacun, c’est donc normal qu’il y ait quelques petites maladresses. Mais il faut bien l’admettre que chaque titre à son passage superflu.
A l’inverse par contre, chaque morceau a son (ou ses) moments de bonheur. Les chansons étant variées dans leur structure, on retrouve toujours du plaisant, et curieusement, c’est plus dans les passages qui cognent vraiment que je prends mon pied (To An Endless Chaos... de NECROS est particulièrement bien foutu à ce niveau là).
Vu que je suis dans les défauts, je continue, les deux groupes ne sont pas très originaux. Déjà entendus des milliers de fois par des milliers de groupes de death plus ou moins underground, je fais peut être un peu le blasé, mais le côté IMMOLATION / INCANTATION (notamment pour NECROS), va falloir penser à innover. C’est dommage car on sent qu’ils ont tous les deux un peu de personnalité, mais pas assez pour sortir du lot.
Le son est assez gras, étouffant, tout en restant assez clair, on distingue bien les instruments, les voix (typiquement death), la batterie… Une grande réussite, on rentre vraiment dans la cassette, accentuant considérablement l’ambiance, elle colle à la perfection au style joué.
Personnellement, j’ai une petite préférence pour NECROS, plus direct. Leur death est plus radical et les accélérations plus généreuses. Malgré tout, ABNORM se défend assez bien.
Nihilistic Holocaust nous sort donc une cassette sympathique, pas trop longue (une demi-heure, et ça suffit amplement) mais pas très originale. Ce n’est pas la prétention des groupes, mais un peu plus de personnalité aurait fait le plus grand bien car on sent qu’ils peuvent faire mieux.
Encore un petit effort. Crowdead. 4/6

CUNT PASTE Zine (Uk)
Ah! Listening to this fire burning on the NECROS intro made me think the tape was being chewed up. But it's a CDr! Once they do get started on their opening track, I can hear a definite BLOODY SIGN influence (both bands are French after all), vocally they use the same deep painful groans, while the drums hammer away in a similar pattern (the technical term? I'm not a drummer. A quick poc-poc-poc is as close as I can describe). Weaving their riffs up and down, they vary the pace throughout their 4 tracks of fluid Death metal.
ABNORM sounds as though they've used the same recording studio, the production for the two sounds very similar. The only real difference between the two bands comes from the vocals, these are more of a rasp while they play at a much higher intense pace.
Both bands show promise for the future, though as I can't find where the insert has gone, you'll have to wait for another release before attempting to contact them.

DIABOLICAL CONQUEST Webzine (India)
Leave it to the dependable G and his nipple-sized but gorgeous label Nihilistic Holocaust to bring us treats from the underground. This time he gives us a split CD-r or rather a tape (CD-r is only for us writers) between two French bands. First one among them is Necros. They are hugely influenced by the godly Incantation circa 1998-2000 and have no qualms about it. They even cover the first song off The Infernal Storm to prove it. In comparison with their Gods, their music is extremely crude, so thick and raw that you may not be able to stomach it at first. Necros are Incantation succumbing to their basest instincts. Amidst the fervent worshipping encompassing all of the band's traits, an unexpected but welcome epic section is heard in the opening song, with Necros playing a doleful tune that is almost wistful in its expression – for recognition, probably. Vocals in “Bloody Throne” are strongly reminiscent of the thick wide-mouthed growls of Ross Dolan, the song also containing influences of mid-period Immolation and slow blood-drenched tunes of Autopsy. “Gehenna” features classic doomy riffs of Incantation and hooks of Immolation while again reminding you how utterly raw their music is. Man, they rekindle that long forgotten feeling of dread in you which made its way there when you heard the nightmarish The Mortal Throne of Nazarene. In the end, of course, you have the cover of “Anoint the Chosen” which I was talking about earlier. It is interesting to observe how that song, thoroughly replicated, would sound if it were fucking thick and raw, especially for those like me who felt the production (particularly the drum sound) on The Infernal Storm was too polished for Incantation, after which they overcompensated for it on Blasphemy.
Necros worship at the right altar. With Incantation being meticulous and refined comparatively, it is indeed a pleasure to hear a band doing their thing in such a crude and brutish manner. To do so is all right for three songs but I am not sure about a full length album.
The other French death metal band is far from derivative. Abnorm's music is so energetic and full of swift changes that is hard to even pin down their influences. Moreover, they can thrash hard and also suddenly lapse into black metal ambience. “Occularis Infernum” has a rabid, vicious riff that doesn't allow you to rest and chases you all over the fucking place. There is no escaping it and you would want it that way. Add to it tons of variations that take place every five seconds and you are never going to get bored. It is kind of like watching an ant panic – you never know in which direction it is going to run. It is a marvel how Abnorm can be this vibrant and diverse and yet retain the grating rawness and underground aesthetic. Hard-hitting drumming sure helps in keeping the music buoyant despite the odds. After watching Abnorm create mini-tornadoes earlier on, see them rumble like old Grave/Bolt Thrower in “The Dead End Path Passenger”. Fucking immense. Then there are plodding gloomy riffs having an hypnotic undercurrent to take the song forward, till you hear screams in the background and things get dramatic following which massive thrashing, nay, heaving takes place. Taking cue from that black metal influences emerge and play their role in creating a harrowing and memorable climax.
I am highly intrigued by their three songs (and an intro). Abnorm have tremendous potential and I sure would like to hear more from them.
Overall then, this is a good and satisfying split between two skilled underground bands, as was expected from Nihilistic Holocaust.  

EVIL'S BEST Zine (Israel)
Here is a double French Death Metal assault, released by the webzine/label "Nihilistic Holocaust". Both bands play Death Metal the unholy Metal way. Necros’ style is mostly reminiscent of Incantation, with many various temp changes and heavy sound that could easily fit an early 90’s Death Metal album. Their contribution to the split is 3 original songs + an Incantation cover, and though I’m not a fan of Incantation, those who like them will enjoy Necros’ music for sure, since it’s still well done for what it is. 8 / 10
After a short intro, Abnorm kick in with some sick mixture of Death Metal that has a rawer and thicker sound than the previous band. Their music is more varied and Morbid Angel and Deicide influences can be noticed here easily in the vocals, as well as more Thrashy sounding riffs and some melancholic parts that bring Black Metal to mind. The result sounds pretty homogeneous, but it’s not for everyone, to say the least. What I didn’t like here, as usual, is the usage of the disgusting effect a-la’ Glenn Benton on the growls, but chances are high that this split could still satisfy many Death Metal fanatics. 7 / 10 to Abnorm, 7.5 / 10 to the whole split.  

EXECUTIONER Webzine (Spa)
El guerrero más acérrimo del underground Death Metal francés ataca de nuevo y edita bajo Nihilistic Holocaust otra dosis de brutalidad en forma de este split, en el que encontramos a dos bandas una vez más desconocidas para un servidor. Necros proceden del norte del país vecino y habían editado los cuatro temas que incluyen en una demo este mismo año, y Abnorm de Bretaña, y sus tres temas más intro tienen la misma procedencia.
Empezando por los alsacianos, lo suyo es un oscuro Death Metal con influencias clásicas a lo primeros Morbid Angel, Incantation, Immolation; oscuro, pesadísimo, denso y retorcido, con pocas incursiones en la velocidad, pero con una brutalidad aplastante cuando lo hacen. Muy influenciados por los neoyorkinos a nivel de guitarras, con ese alto nivel de técnica que sin embargo no rompe la atmósfera. Incluso vocalmente les tienen un retazo, aunque por ese lado también se acercan al señor McEntree, o a nuestros Scent Of Death en niveles generales. Y destacable, junto al guitarrista, la labor de Jérôme tras los parches, intensísima y a la vez muy natural, alejada totalmente de ese sonido triggeado que tanto se usa hoy en día, con lo cual ganan en fuerza y crudeza. La conclusión es que con cuatro temas te dejan con ganas de más porque el contenido es perfecto para el que busque Death Metal oscuro en estado puro, con poca o nula linealidad, alta brutalidad bien dosificada y una producción que, aún siendo algo maquetera, se deja escuchar de sobra, y de paso le pega. Ah, me olvida de comentar que el cuarto tema es una versión del "Anoint The Chosen" de Incantation.
Los bretones en cambio optan por algo más directo y bastante más influenciado por el Thrash, aunque a una velocidad impresionante, con influencias que podrían incluir a los viejos Pestilence, lo primero de Morbid Angel en las partes más contundentes o a los franceses Bloody Sign en versión menos enrevesada, y eso que Abnorm lo son también. Aún así, en el cuarto tema pasan a un tempo lento e hipnótico, con una voz más grave y un resultado en líneas generales más cercano a los ángeles mórbidos o a los primeros pasos de Behemoth en los reinos del Death Metal. La pego en este caso sí es la producción; no es que no deje escuchar los temas pero desde luego no los favorece: las guitarras aún se salvan más o menos decentemente, pero la batería y el bajo quedan sepultados bajo estas, y la voz suena excesivamente clínica, algo que no es recomendable para una voz desgarrada. Aún así se salvan, sus tres temas también sorprenden y desprenden rabia por los cuatro costados, les queda mejorar lo dicho. Una prueba más de que el Death Metal no está muerto si no más vivo que nunca. [7] Jeroni Sancho 

FACE YOUR UNDERGROUND Webzine (Bel)
Nihilistic Holocaust is an underground label in France. Focusing on either black and deathmetal they released some unique stuff. The split that we are looking at today has been released as a tape (how kvlt can you be?), but seemed to find my way in a cd-version. Too bad, because it’s things like a tape that really bring back the old schoolfeeling. Enough chitchat, now let’s listen to the music. Both Necros and Abnorm are farily new to the French scène (which has been exploding since a couple of years).
Now we all know that France is popular for its Tour, cheese and frogs and as for the musicscène you can count technical deathmetal and nihilistic black metal to that account. Both bands featured on this split play the same kind of metal: a large coat of deathmetal refined with the typical traits of a blackmetal album. Fast and ripping guitars, crushing rythmsection and a voice that makes your hair raise. Necros is the more straightforward one of the two and deliveres a fine cover of INCANTATION’s “Anoint The Chosen”. Abnorm is the more melodic one and tends be a bit less groovy, yet still powerfull.
A lovely (is that even a word that can be said in reviews of this kind of music?) split, which unfortunately didn’t found my doorpath in a tapelike shape. Be sure to watch out for these promising abominations.

FATAL UNDERGROUND Zine (Ger)
Wenn’s es wohl ne Typen gibt ,welcher den Underground ,insbesondere im eignen Land ,mit vollem Herzen unterstützt ,so ist das zweifelsfrei der G von „Nihilistic Holocaust „ .Dabei beweist der durchaus immer ein verdammt gutes Händchen bei der Bandauswahl und hat nur in den seltensten Fällen mal wirklich was schrottiges im Angebot .Und so hat er auch für dieses Split Tape mal wieder in den tiefsten Undergroundsümpfen gewildert ,und zwei französische Vertreter der härteren Gangart ans Tageslicht befördert .Beide Band sind hier jeweils mit 4 Songs präsent ( Intro eingerechnet ) ,und man kann bereits beim ersten Durchlauf nen sehr positiven Endruck bekommen .NECROS beginnen mit nem kurzen Intro ,bevor sie dann in die Vollen gehen .Dabei bietet man ne wirklich gelungenes Songwriting an ,welches vor allem ne ganze Menge an Abwechslung im petto hat .Neben wirklich guten Rhythmen ,fetten Energieschüben und ner starken Intensität, können die vor allem mit ihrem coolen Riffing bei mir punkten .Da tauchen zwischendurch sogar mal kurze Riffspielereien ,welche die Stücke hierbei ungemein auflockern .Obwohl man stets den old school Death Metal Charakter klar erkennt ,bleibt aber auch noch etwas Platz ,um leichte BM Sprenkler  mit einfließen zu lassen .Die allen Anschein nach aus der Tierwelt stammenden Vocals ,passen hierbei natürlich 100%’tig rein .Mit dem letzten Stück "Anoint The Chosen" huldigt man dann noch in recht beeindruckender Weise den alten Helden von  „Incantation“ .Die Songs machen echt Lust auf mehr .
Auf dem zweiten Teil der Split zeigen nun ABNORM ihr Können .Im Gegensatz zu NECROS zeigen die sich allerdings stellenweise noch ne Zacken schärfer ,wenn auch nicht besser .Denn die Band geht doch eher etwas einfacher zur Sache und hält eher etwas an dem altbewährtem Songaufbau fest . Trotzdem können die aber im Laufe des Geschehens dann doch so etwas wie nen eignen Stil aufbauen .Obwohl auch hier der Death Metal Einschlag immer präsent ist ,verzichtet man ebenfalls nicht auf nen paar leichte BM Spielereien und lässt teilweise sogar das eine oder andere Thrash Riffing aufblitzen .Richtig überzeugen können die jedoch dann mit dem letzten Stück “The Dead End Path Passenger” .Das ist so ein richtig schwer schleppendes ,leicht doomig angehauchtes Stück ,welche alles niederwalzen kann und auch so einiges an Atmosphäre rüberbringt .Wenn die demnächst mehr solcher Songs bringen ,könnten die durchaus so einiges an neuen Fans ( natürlich auch mich ! ) dazu gewinnen .Nen geiles Split Tape in recht guter Qualität ,welches vor allem die old school Interessierten unter euch besonders ansprechen wird  

FLESH SALAD Zine (Spa)
Extremedamente UG y con calidad. Sellos de identidad de casi todas las ediciones de esta pequeña productora francesa llamada Nihilistic Holocaust. Abren fuego los franceses Necros con tres temas más versión de Incantation, el estilo un Death Metal muy influenciado por las partes más pegadizas de Incantation, esas partes ha medio tiempo que rezuman pesadez y oscuridad, aunque también saben lanzarse en busca de ritmos endemoniadamente veloces. Gran sonido y excelentes temas, para una banda que no debería pasar desapercibida en la inmensidad del UG Death Metalero. Le siguen Abnorm, también franceses con un Death Metal más al uso, no tan pesado, con mayor juego de riffs de guitarra y con dueto vocal gutural/chillón. Otra banda que sale de la media, otro buen descubrimiento. En fín, que una Split tape que te va permitir descubrir dos grandes bandas de la escena Death Metal del país gabacho.  

FOEDUS AETERNUS Zine (Fra)
Death around the hexagone
Cette compilation puise à la source deux nouvelles formations de notre pays, deux groupes qui donnent un peu dans l’INCANTATION, l’incantatoire, si nous souhaitons franciser notre verbiage. Sur les cendres de TORMENT PAIN, au 7ème jour exactement, né un NECROS sans un CHRISTOS, toujours fidèle à ses ponctions sur trois corps malades et aux écueils de la vieille école que nous récitions naguère pour nous donner du baume au cœur, les alsacos donnent dans un style UG qui pourrait plaire, seulement c’est sans réelle passion que je me coltine ces quatre titres dont une reprise d’INCANTATION. La production est assez faiblarde, ce qui ne rend pas service à un genre qui se veut souvent monolithique, en plus ils se perdent souvent dans des riffs dont ils ne mesurent pas la puissance. ABNORM de son côté produit la même musique en apparence, et s’en sort mieux que ses congénères en anticipant sur ma torpeur. Je préfère l’énergie que propose ABNORM. C’est plutôt bien amené pour du Dark Death Metal même s’il n’y a pas d’anticipation particulière. Cette tape s’inscrit dans une convention de groupes à l’état démo, un cheminement logique pourrait les conduire à produire quelque chose de personnel dans un avenir plus ou moins proche, cela dépendra d’eux.  4/10 - 6/10

FRIEDHOF Webzine (Spa)
Pasado el cabreo inmediato de ver un CD Verbatim en lo que se supone que es un CD que tengo que analizar, algo que es más común de lo que imaginaba últimamente y no creo que sea culpa de la crisis, me detengo un instante en la fotocopia en blanco y negro que conforma la portada del CD de hoy. Se trata de un “Split” donde dos grupos a priori desconocidos, comparten protagonismo y discográfica que edite este trabajo. Carátula curiosa por otra parte donde hay una especie de “noble” inclinado en una mesa frente a una cabeza de carnero y en el fondo unos seguidores del Ku Klux Klan o bien de la Semana Santa de Valladolid, porque visten igual. Dicha portada ha sido realizada por el ilustrador Thierry Demarez.
El original se editó en cinta cassette y quizás esa sea la razón fundamental de que las copias nos lleguen con un disco fulero grabado. Pero, valor y al grano.
El trabajo se compone de 8 temas de los cuales los cuatro primeros pertenecen a Necros y los restantes a Abnorm. La duración total de este CD es de 30 minutos aproximadamente. Y la producción se puede catalogar como burda y descuidada no pudiéndose apreciar de forma taxativa todos los ambientes que destila este trabajo.
Necros es un grupo originario de Francia, que hasta 2006 se llamaban Torment Pain. Son totalmente Death Metal Old School y definitivamente, si éste es tu estilo, éste es tu grupo. Sin excesivos tecnicismos logran un resultado agradable conjugando ramalazos viscerales con otros más profundos e intensos, medios tiempos guturalizados con una voz mediatizada por el tempo del tema. Destacar que los tres primeros temas son propios mientras que el cuarto es una versión de una canción de Incantation titulada “Anoint the Chosen” que pertenece al cuarto disco de la banda “The Infernal Storm”.
Los 4 temas restantes son de Abnorm de su “Schemes Of Hate And Denial”. Precedidos por una intro, esta banda también francesa es otra vuelta de tuerca al estilo. Son Death Metal pero con grandes y sentidos momentos de Thrash Metal. Con una música enérgica y nada monótona, combinan una furibunda interpretación totalmente explosiva con momentos de temática y atmósfera de Black Metal. Con riffs asincopados ricos en tremolo picking aderezados con momentos que aturden con los blast beats de un incansable batería, el resultado sería digno de mencionar si no fuera tan mala la producción.
En resumen, este split nos da a conocer a dos bandas de las que espero en un futuro no muy lejano, poder apreciar en directo porque lo que es prometer, prometen.
Stay Brutal 

HELLSPAWN Zine (Spain)
De la mano del sello galo Nihilistic Holocaust Records, nos llega este Tape compartido entre 2 bandas francesas, sendas de nueva hornada cuyo Split resulta su primera referencia discográfica para ambas, NECROS y ABNORM. La cinta posee el clásico formato demo de toda la vida con tríptico interior fotocopiado (portada genial, todo se dicho) y cinta standard. No obstante, dichas carencias se ven compensadas por una música realmente lograda con un sonido bastante pro donde ambos grupos se explayan a lo largo de los 8 cortes aquí presentes (4 por grupo). NECROS poseen un tufillo a primeros MORBID ANGEL considerable (Era “Abominations of Desolation”), sobretodo por esas melodías rebuscadas de guitarra mientras que ABNORM tiran por blackmetalizar un poco más su propuesta, eso sí, con unos resultados sonoros un tanto más deficientes aunque igualmente atractivos. 

IGNOMINIOUS TORMENTS Zine (Fra)
I heard of NECROS for the first time when they were called TORMENT PAIN (never listened their music). Today, anyway, they are into some satanic, suffocating, brutal and evil death metal highly influenced by INCANTATION, with fast blasting parts and mid-tempos and slow, oppressing riffs. The overall feeling is GREAT !! The production is perfect and the vocals, deep and guttural, fit perfectly with the music. For me the best part of the split, just trust me !! A band that every fan of satanic, demoniac death metal should listen to ! Enjoy also their cover of the Anoint the Chosen from INCANTATION !! Well done! Maniacs of evil death metal you will like this !!
Then comes the B-side of the tape and the ABNORM part. Well... They are more in that kind of black/death metal, no bestial stuff, it's quite melodic. It's not really what I like the most... The sound is quite good, the songs are ok but I'm not very into the whole thing. It's good, no shit, but there's something I can't like with their music. Maybe those melodic parts, I don't know... Most of this is about mid-tempos, almost-thrashy riffs, no real blast beat, no brutality. I guess there is a good potential but... well, not my kind of shit. But if you like that kind of music, you may enjoy it. Such a quality split-tape, mainly for the NECROS part but the other one is ok too if you like this kind of music which is just not my case. Good stuff anyway !

IMPERIUMI Webzine (Fin)
Harvoinpa tulee kasettijulkaisuja arvosteluun ja hyvä niin, sillä omalta osaltani olenkin kyseisen formaatin hylännyt useita vuosia sitten. Tämän julkaisun arvostelun poikkeussyynä onkin tietysti se, että arviokappale on lähetetty cd-r-formaatissa, vaikka itse kannet - numerointineen - ovatkin c-kasettia varten ja vieläpä perinteitä kunnioittavasti mustavalkoista kopiokonejälkeä.
Se nostalgisoinnista ja fiilistelystä, sillä vaikka Necros/Abnorm -split onkin musikaalisesti kuin aikamatka 90-lukulaiseen death metaliiin, ei jälki ole kaksista kuultavaa. Tummasävyistä, brutaalia, reipastempoista ja melkoisen puuroista. Siis kuin mikä tahansa tavanomainen demo 80- ja 90-luvun taitteesta ja genrenä death metal. Ensimmäinen bändeistä, Necros, on sullonut puoliskoonsa kolme omaa biisiä sekä Incantation-coverin. Tavanomaista, tylsää ja mitäänsanomatonta kaikkiaan.
Abnorm jatkaa samoilla uurteilla, mutta ehkä vielä kertaluokkaa tylsemmin ja tavanomaisemmin. Yhtä lailla heidän osuutensa on neljän raidan verran ja kokonaiskestoa paketille kertyykin noin neljänkymmenen minuutin verran. Hyvää paketissa on kummankin bändin keskinäinen tasavertaisuus ja on oikeastaan hieman hankalaa nimetä kahdesta näin tavanomaisesta ja keskinkertaisesta bändistä voittajaa. Lopulta se ehkä kallistuu piirun verran kuitenkin Necrosin puolelle.
Kuten sanottua, soundit ovat kohtuullisen tunkkaista ja puunaamatonta jälkeä. Old-school-fanittajaa tämä varmasti lämmittää, mutta aivan rehellisesti sanoen näistä kappaleista olisi saanut enemmän irti tiukemmalla tuotannolla. Örinälaulu on niin perusjälkeä, hyvässä ja pahassa, kuin olla ja voi, mikä ei osakkeiden kurssia sinänsä muuta.
Kelle tätä split-kasettia sitten suosittelisi? C-kasettien fanittajille, death metal -keräilijöille ja tusinapaskan hamstraajille. Eihän tämä mitään järjetöntä kuonaa ole, mutta ei tälle kyllä hyvillä perustein levytysdiiliä vielä tämän perusteella tarjoaisi. 

IN EXTREMIS Zine (Fra)
Gasp, la malédiction postale m'a encore frappé ! 2 fois il aura fallu que Gabiche m'envoie son split pour qu'enfin je puisse m'en délecter. Une 1ère enveloppe a due se perdre dans les méandres du service postal entre Douai et Lille (au moins 20 bornes!), ou dans la poche d'un de ses employés véreux tout simplement.
Mais à présent, plus aucune raison de ne pas en parler de ce split, surtout que la qualité nihilistique est comme toujours au rendez-vous. C'est Necros, groupe basé sur Colmar qui débute les hostilités. Leur truc à eux c'est le death-metal doomisant, sombre et obscur, typiquement avec une approche à la Incantation dont d'ailleurs ils reprennent "Anoint The Chosen" ici-même (version très fidèle). Mais c'est aussi à Gojira que ça m'aura fait penser, et pas qu'un peu. D'ailleurs même la voix sonne très proche de celle du père Duplantier, avec le coté immédiatement reconnaissable de certains rifs, la ressemblance est frappante. Certes c'est puissant mais ça tourne vite en rond à mon goût, et c'est pas encore assez personnel faut bien se l'avouer. Attendons de voir la suite car les gars ont du potentiel sous le capot, ça s'entend. 2nde mi-temps avec Abnorm, qui eux nous arrivent de Bretagne. Lassés des soirées à souffler dans un biniou ou dans l'anatomie intime de vielles bigoudens édentées, les gaillards optent pour un virulent death/black mais savent aussi proposer des passages plus aériens propices au sifflage de chouchen de contrebande. Et ce, dès le 1er titre "Occularis Infernum" qui plante tous les éléments du décor. Vocalement c'est super rageur avec une voix gutturale classique supportée par un backing-vocal très bestial. Le batteur frappe comme une mule, sans avoir une technique incroyable il te dégage pourtant quelque chose de terriblement puissant. Les riffs quant à eux, sans être formidablement originaux pénètrent bien le cortex. Alors c'est largement plus varié que Necros leurs compagnons d'armes, et niveau influences j'ai plus de mal à les cerner car la façon vicieuse qu'ils ont de faire rimer dissonances riffesques avec le coté très brutal des vocaux les rend finalement assez particuliers. 

IRON HAMMER Zine (Ger)
Arrgghh, what a killer split release! Found this one in my letter box one day and it blew me away immediately. This tape was released by Nihilistic Holocaust and the idea behind this release is to unite two new underground Death Metal bands and their first recordings on one fucking tape. Indeed that's an idea I appreciate very much as this release gives me the chance to discover two completly unknown bands from the French abyss that are both excellent performers of their style. Necros starts the madness with some sort of Death Metal with some black metallic injections. With utterly brutal riffs they march forward and crush with their dark sounding desecrations.... Throughoutly they maintain this certain level of darkness which they achieve with the use of tormenting guitar riffs, hammering drums and the wise incorporation of morbid slowdowns and riff changes. Mostly they march forward in mid-pace but in few parts they also tend to quite doomy parts and they also have their moments where they destroy with faster rhythms. That's proof for the band's understanding how to give their compositions enough depth and profound atmosphere. Necros deliver four songs of this kind including also a well-done cover version of Incantation's ''Anoint The Chosen'', which is also a manifestation of their main influence. On the contrary, Abnorm plays a more catchy style of elemental Death Metal and they also keep their compositions quite heavy, gloomy and crushing over the whole playing time. Similar to Necros, Abnorm also covers a wide spectrum of pace and so they switch between slower and faster parts. Also, in terms of vocals, they use deep growls as well as screams. They offer us four compositions and a strong first effort in playing cruel Death Metal.  

LA HORDE NOIRE Webzine (Fra)
Une split tape qui sort sur NIHILISTIC HOLOCAUST, d'un côté j'ai nommé NECROS un petit groupe alsaciens qui existe depuis 2006 originellement appelé TORMENT PAIN  et de l'autre ABNORM un autre petit groupe breton dont je ne sais pas grand grand chose pour être franc.
Les hostilités commence avec NECROS, 4 titres dont 1 intro et 1 cover d'INCANTATION Anoint The Chosen d'ailleurs très bonne. Concrètement NECROS joue du Dark Death Metal Old School, les compos sont variées le groupe ne se contente pas de blaster tout azimut préfèrant alterner des passages lents et ensuite rapides. Si je devais donner des comparaisons, je dirais qu'au niveau du chant NECROS se rapprocherait de Ross Dolan d'IMMOLATION mais en moins guttural quand même. Ensuite la musique du groupe aurait tendance à me faire penser à du AUTOPSY période Shitfun, je tiens quand même à dire que tout cela n'est que pure comparaison donc à prendre avec des pincettes!
Passons à ABNORM, on commence encore par une petite intro histoire de se préparer viens ensuite le titre Occularis Infernum ( The Devilish Contemplations ), première sensation par rapport à NECROS, ici le tempo est beaucoup plus soutenue et les riffs beaucoup plus accrocheurs tout en restant raw. Une chose me paraît clair à ce stade, même si NECROS joue de la bonne musique, ABNORM est plus créatif à mon sens et cela se ressent dans la variété des riffs. ABNORM joue du Death Old School et n'oublie pas d'incorporer quelques parties plus lentes et bien lourdes limites zombifiante à sa musique...La voix du chanteur me fait terriblement penser à celle du chanteur de BIRDFLESH, pour le reste je serais tenté de dire ARGHOSLENT ( encore une fois à prendre avec des pincettes ).
Maxtician - 7/10 

LEGION OF TORTURE Zine (Peru)
Necros (Fra) / Abnorm (Fra) split tape. Released by Nihilistic Holocaust from France: Here we have some fucking good Death Metal, as 90s was!!! The first band Necros strikes us with a sound of death too similar from the USA 90s style: it means changes of riffs, some brutal parts, but some slow also. Also a bit of Technic is shown, I mean not complex in an “absurd” way, but the enough riffs changing to make a variated sound and not be monotonous. Necros plays here 3 tracks + 1 track which are a cover from Incantation (“Anoint the Chosen”). Contact them at: louti2@hotmail.com. The following band Abnorm, is a death metal style a bit similar talking about stuff. But maybe I could say it is a bit more technic. It has some sounds in the style of actual Cannibal Corpse, and I could check more changes in guitar. The drum also has a variated kind of stuck, which is a good thing actually when some bands thinks “if im the fastest im better!!” Abnorm plays 3 songs + 1 intro. Contact: madblaster@hotmail.fr. Talking about the work of Nihilistic Holocaust with this release, well if you dont know what the fuck about underground is, you’ll know with this kind of release!!!! It is some DIY cover (printed by pc or good Xerox as I see), using some cover draw of a man in a table seeing a goat head with some obscure priests behind. Cut n paste style is used in the parts of titles, and the copies are hand numbered. If you think Metal are “nice” things you can fuck you off!!! Simply: “this tape is an underground manifestation from the caves!!!”

METAL COMMAND Zine (Ger)
Schön morbiden, puristischen Death Metal mit offensichtlicher Black Metal-Kante wird auf diesem unbetitelten Split-Tape der zwei französischen Bands geboten. Zwar hat das gute Stück schon drei stolze Jahre auf dem Buckel, doch nachdem es mir durch einen Tausch mit Label-Chef G in die Finger fiel, beschloss ich, noch etwas dazu zu schreiben. Die ersten im Bunde, NECROS, überzeugen durch einen sehr barbarisch growlenden Sänger, teilweise Elchtod-beeinflusste, gleichermaßen jedoch auch vom norwegischen Black Metal der frühen Neunziger geprägte Riffs. Hier poltert und scheppert es herrlich ungezügelt auf die Zwölf. Blastspeed wechselt sich mit Uptempo-Gebolze ab und die Produktion stimmt auch, da sie den kranken Sound des Trios perfekt transportiert. Der letzte ihrer vier Tracks ist ein Cover der US-Deather Incantation ("Anoint The Green"). ABNORM schlagen in eine ähnliche Kerbe wie ihre Landsmänner, obwohl die Vocals etwas krächzender tönen. Zudem wildern die Songs eher im Mid- bzw. Uptempo-Bereich herum und dürften im Durchschnitt weniger Blastbeats als bei NECROS bieten. Beide Bands wissen zu gefallen, sollten künftig jedoch noch etwas an einer eigenen Identität arbeiten, damit sie aus der Flut unzähliger ähnlich gearteter Truppen positiv herausragen. Das pechschwarze, unbeschriftete Tape ist handnummeriert, nur einseitig bespielt und kommt mit ausklappbarem, schwarz-weiß kopiertem Cover. 7,5/10

METAL REVOLUTION Webzine (Denmark)
Necros & Abnorm are two young French bands who’ve released a split tape on Nihilistic Holocaust. Since we are reluctant to do tape reviews on the pages of Metal Revolution I received a CD-R with all songs included.
At first, there’s no big difference from Necros and Abnorm to other mainly brutal French bands. The scene is definitely rising in France and two bands featured here are the proponents of this strong, vital, brutal and extreme scene.
The first band to take part on this Split is a violent and old school death metal band Necros. They present only 4 songs here including the Incantation cover “Anoint the Chosen”. Their music is a bit chaotic and dark, but with some interesting tunes, huge amount of energy released on this recording and above everything; roughness, intensity and tightness. It is brutal and obscure all the way through these four tracks, yet it is atmospheric and with few interesting breaks which are a good thing to avoid the monotony. Most obvious comparison would be to the above mentioned Incantation, but also to any old school dirty and raw death metal act of the early 90s.
Abnorm is the second band, presenting itself also with four songs. The music is much similar to Necros, actually I was in doubt a couple of times if I’m still listening to Necros or…? However, their sound is a bit more harmonic and with few additional melodic parts, unlike Necros. There’s this thin line between black and death metal, and Abnorm crosses and challenges this border a few times, mostly successfully.
     It is dark, heavy and intense piece of music, but like the case is with Necros, Abnorm’s music is not the most original one. It feels like we’ve heard it all before. Production is very raw and old-school, but I guess it is done deliberately. Pummelling drums, deep and dark vocals, melodic and harmonic guitar work and obscure yet simple artwork for the cover are the obvious trademark of this Split CD. Having said that, there’s nothing revolutionary on this release, but the future might look bright after all for both of these bands, they just have to work hard and improve the last remaining obstacles. 

MINACIOUS Webzine (Swe)
A split-tape with two French Death Metal bands, I’ll tart with Necros since that’s the first band that I heard. This is a fairly new band, they started in 2006 under the name Torment Pain, and they released one demo under that name. In 2008 they changed name to their current and released a second demo which is their side on this split. Their music is raw old school Death Metal, very dark and oppressive. They seem to be inspired by the early American scene, I can detect traces of Incantation, Immolation and Morbid Angel. This is not bad at all, actually this is quite good, old school with a lot of darkness. On the other side we find Abnorm, a band that has released one demo (I'm guessing their side of the split is that demo) and that is about all I know about the band. Besides the fact that I like this. They also operate in the realm of old school Death Metal, but with a Black Metal twist, and a bit Thrashier approach to the music and arrangements. There are some general US. influences. But really all you need to know is that the music is old school Death Metal with some Black Metal and some Thrash Metal influences.  

MORBIDIOUS PATHOLOGY Zine (Pol)
Zezowato-garbaty Gab, niezwykle uroczy przy całej swej groteskowej powierzchowności, przysadzisty młodzieniec o krokodylim sercu, roniąc gołębie łzy (wspominałem już, że niezły z niego herbatnik?) w przerwach pomiędzy kolejnymi ciągami masturbacyjnymi z godną podziwu wytrwałością wypluwa kolejne wydawnictwa sygnowane szyldem dowodzonego przez siebie „Nihilistic Holocaust” każdorazowo oferując nam materiały co najmniej interesujące. Nie inaczej jest również w przypadku tego splitu, na którym swoje walory zaprezentowali krajanie imć Skowrona – a jako pierwszy do konfrontacji z gustami słuchaczy stanął Necros! Zapoznając się z propozycją tego tercetu absolutnie nikt nie powinien mieć nawet przez moment wątpliwości, iż podstawowym źródłem inspiracji dla twórczości Francuzów są dokonania ekipy, której przewodzi John McEntee – zresztą jestem przekonany, że gdyby kogokolwiek takowe dopadły cover „Anoint The Chosen” w ekspresowym tempie je rozwieje. Słuchając zarówno wspomnianego powyżej numeru z repertuaru Amerykanów jak i trzech autorskich utworów Necros nie mam najmniejszego zamiaru negować trafności pewnych wyborów poczynionych przez tę orkiestrę, bowiem nader wyraźnie słychać, że ten „temat” leży chłopakom doskonale, co dobitnie potwierdza ich muzyka – mocarny, ciężki, masywny, brutalny, mroczny Death Metal, który z miejsca stawia Necros w rzędzie niezwykle pojętnych uczniów wiernie podążających ścieżką wydeptaną przez Incantation. Nie chcę rzecz jasna przez to powiedzieć, że Francuzi zżynają wszystko jak leci, bowiem byłoby to niesprawiedliwe, jednak trzymając się dość ściśle określonego przepisu (a tak właśnie jest w przypadku Necros) w gruncie rzeczy naprawdę ciężko uniknąć daleko idących porównań, choć za nic w świecie nie poważyłbym się zarzucać im plagiatu, gdyż do tego rodzaju zapędów chłopakom zdecydowanie daleko. Tak czy inaczej chcąc postawić sprawę jasno trzeba powiedzieć, iż posiłkując się doskonałymi wzorcami Francuzi po prostu solidnie przykurwili rasowym Metalem Śmierci przepełnionym obskurnym, grobowym klimatem. Za budulec posłużyły muzykom Necros skutecznie oplatające naszą świadomość potężne, mordercze gitarowe riffy, krusząca kości pełna werwy gra sekcji rytmicznej oraz wyszarpujący trzewia głęboki growling wokalisty – to wszystko zostało przyprawione sporym ciężarem i ubrane w surowe brzmienie dając w rezultacie znakomite efekty finalne. Chcąc również uniknąć oskarżeń o nadmierną prostotę tudzież monotonię wykreowanej muzyku Francuzi fachowo podeszli do kwestii struktur, aranżacji czy też stosowanych temp wykazując się wystarczającymi kompetencjami w tym zakresie, co pozwoliło im na skomponowanie spójnych, kompletnych i zróżnicowanyc utworów, w których tkwi nie tylko ogromna siła ale i diabelska atmosfera. Drugą stronę „tasiemca” okupują załoganci z Abnorm, którzy podobnie jak ich pobratymcy z Necros próbują za sprawą swojej twórczości przekonać do siebie maniaków – czy mają szanse na to, aby w swoich staraniach stać się równie skutecznymi? Myślę, że tak, chociaż prezentują nieco inne oblicze (wcale nie mniej przemawiające do wyobraźni) Death Metalowego rzemiosła, które dodatkowo przyprawione zostało szczyptą Black Metalu. Na szczęście proporcje obydwu gatunków rozłożone są w należyty sposób, czyli dominującą pozycję wciąż zachowuje Metal Śmierci wyrosły na gruncie zapatrzenia się w twórczość chociażby Morbid Angel czy Deicide, na które tu i ówdzie nakłada się znajomość dźwięków sygnowanych na przykład przez Arkhon Infaustus a momentami również wczesnego Belphegor. Wynikiem takiego zestawienia jest muzyka, której autorzy potrafią zarówno nieźle zakombinować jak i konkretnie przypierdolić. Utwory stanowiące ofertę tego kwartetu ukazują nam członków Abnorm jako sprawnych instrumentalistów mających w zanadrzu nie tylko porządne umiejętności ale i dobre pomysły, co pozwala im na swobodne wyrażanie ich muzycznych zamysłów charakteryzujących się dojrzałością, intensywnością oraz przepisową brutalnością. W trzech regularnych numerach (bo nie liczę intro) serwowanych nam przez Francuzów dzieje się naprawdę niemało dzięki czemu twórczości Abnorm z całą pewnością nie możemy uznać za nużącą, bowiem jej autorzy przez cały czas efektywnie zgniatają jednostajność w zarodku. Oczywiście nie mamy tutaj do czynienia z niczym nadzwyczajnym, jednak mnie osobiście ta solidność mimo wszystko przekonuje, ponieważ zespołowi udaje się balansować pomiędzy Death oraz Black Metalem dodatkowo podszywając to wszystko odrobiną melodii. Sporo tutaj solidnego gitarowego rzemiosła, przemyślanej ale i silnej gry „fizycznego”, zróżnicowanych wokaliz (natkniemy się bowiem zarówno na growl jak i partie w nieco wyższych rejestrach) czy sięgania po całą gamę temp. To wszystko czyni muzykę Abnorm zróżnicowaną oraz interesującą a przy tym nie pozbawioną odpowiedniej dawki agresji, i choć tym razem wyżej oceniam propozycję Necros to i o Abnorm właściwie nic złego powiedzieć nie mogę, ponieważ w obranych przez ten zespół ramach stylistycznych Francuzi prezentują się co najmniej przyzwoicie, a split jako całość jest wydawnictwem, które moim zdaniem warto mieć w swoich zbiorach.

MY LAST CHAPTER Webzine (Swe)
I love old school death metal when done well. But some people seem to praise everything just for the fact that it’s old school. I’m much more restrictive; it still has to be something special about it, just as it would with any other style or genre. And honestly a lot of the time when I check out a band that everyone’s raving about I don’t get it. Sure, it’s old school, but so what… Here we have a split with two young French acts that both unfortunately wind up in my ‘so what’ pile.
First out is Necros with their To an endless chaos… demo from earlier this year. That particular crushing old school feel immediately settles in as soon as the riffing commence. But the opening track (which is also the title track) doesn’t really do anything for me; I’ve heard it all before. Bloody throne on the other hand is a much more interesting song, as they flirt a bit with doom as well. The deep, grunting voice fits perfectly with the slower sections, where vivid Winter flashbacks haunts my mind. There are a few lethal riffs, the blasting is not over-the-top and the production feels real and not overly clean and digital. I guess that sums up my impression of Necros; it feels real and true, but it still doesn’t get my adrenaline rushing like crazy. Sure, it’s fairly powerful, but not to the point where I get overwhelmed by it.
An intro later and we have the Occularis infernum track by Abnorm, taken from their Schemes of hate and denial demo. This has some more hints towards black metal, and it's also slightly rougher, much due to the crude recording. The semi-melodic guitar lines are fairly dominant in their sound, and some are pretty cool. But I think its power gets lost in the burly sound, and with the fast drumming and growling vocals it’s a bit too dodgy, production-wise. Unfortunately I just can’t get into it, and I’m convinced it’s due to the sound. It’s a good display of bulldozer death metal with its slower mangle, but I just can’t take it in.
An old school fanatic will probably go apeshit over this, but for someone like me (who requires just a little more flare) it’s a bit too sketchy. It’s cool that Gab still release tapes, there’s no doubt about his devotion to the underground and he always promotes and distributes his stuff well. So hopefully this split will find its way to the more devoted listeners, ‘cause it definitely deserves attention. 6/10

NECROSCOPE Zine (Pol)
The new release by NIHILISTIC HOLOCAUST , the underground label well known from death metal devotion and very good promotion through the underground. Thus I suppose that most of you already know this split, since G had to spread it everywhere already, haha! In spite of it I should write briefly about my impressions concerning the split! First it’s released on tape with Xerox cover that includes even snail address to the bands, pure fucking underground! So, both acts come from France, the country with big yet unknown death metal scene. And both bands from the split are two next examples for good example for good, brutal death made in France!
NECROS has put 4 compositions, including INCANTATION cover. The music of theirs it’s pure, rather common yet tasty death metal! They compose this music by use of brutality, technique and some subtle atmosphere!  The songs are quite rich, complex including fast, twisted rhythms as well as slower, little grim ones. In the playing time of a song we experience many changes, solos (etc), so the general impression is intense! Maybe they need more personal, uncommon ideas, because NECROS sounds a bit like 10000 of other death metal bands, but however I haven’t problem with listening to them… And INCANTATION’s “Anoint of the chosen” is perfectly, faithfully performed!
Then ABNORM comes with intro and 3 compositions. The music it’s death metal naturally; heavy, raw, brutal, made by use of fast mostly tempos, quite catchy riffs and straight arranges. Generally the second band seems to be much more rhythmical, easier listenable, maybe even I should admit some traces of black metal over there! From the other hand rawest, so deep/ massive sound makes the songs by ABNORM utterly extreme, addressed to the underground freaks!  Some grim slowdowns, mystic marching rhythms create darker, more obscure atmosphere yet! I’m not sure, but they remind me of the early BELPHEGOR, when the Austrian band was rawer, more death metal yet… Both bands on the split have presented good, classical death metal, however both in different way and I can’t choose better one! Recommended for underground collectors!

NECROSLAUGHTER Webzine (Ger)
Habe ich erst vor kurzem noch von einem Anachronismus im Bezug auf das Medium “Sampler” gesprochen, schickt mir G von Nihilistic Holocaust “DIY” Records direkt eine Split-MC zur Besprechung. Ob sich für dieses Absatzmedium heute noch irgendwer erwärmen kann, sei an dieser Stelle einfach mal dahingestellt. Was aber ohne Zweifel ist: G ist tief im Underground drin und hat ein sehr gutes Händchen für talentierte Bands aus eben diesem! So hat er mit NECROS und ABNORM wieder zwei vielversprechende Bands aus den untiefen Frankreichs ausgegraben, denen er nun mit der altertümlichen Split-Kassette ein Medium bietet!
Seite A gehört NECROS, die nach kurzem Intro direkt mit “To An Endless Chaos…” loslegen und in ihrer viertel Stunde der Split ordentlich Dunkelheit verbreiten! Abwechslungsreiches Songwriting, coole Riffs und teilweise überraschende Songstrukturen hinterlassen einen verdammt guten Eindruck! Von coolem Uptempo-Groove über Blastbeats mit Hummel-Riff, kleine Black Metal Anmerkungen bis hin zu Autopsy-ähnlichen Parts ist alles vertreten und wird wunderbar durch die animalische Stimme des Sängers untermalt!
Kurzum schafft NECROS in wenigen Minuten Lust auf mehr beim Hörer zu erzeugen und ich bin wirklich gespannt, wie das Full-Lenght-Material der Band wird! So abwechslungsreichen und überraschenden oldschool düster Death Metal habe ich schon lange nicht mehr gehört!
Nun haben ABNORM auf ihrer hälfte der Split einen schweren Start! Nachdem NECROS so richtig überzeugen konnten, wirkt “Occularis Infernum (The Devilish Contemplation)” spätestens im Ufta-Ufta-Teil nicht mal mehr annähernd ebenbürtig! Doch kann im gleichen Lied das geile Riff beim Blastbeat und der dicke Midtempo-Part überzeugen. Insgesamt ist der Start in die viertel Stunde von ABNORM etwas holprig, trotz der guten Ideen. Nachfolgendes “Schemes Of Hatred And Denial” klingt hingegen schon stimmiger und punktet durch sein düsteres Riff, das ebenfalls von Hate Eternal oder Immortal stammen könnte. Gerade letztere Band scheint hier erwähnenswert, weil leichte Black Metal Einflüsse nicht von der Hand zu weisen sind. Mit dem doomig-schleppenden “The Dead End Path Passenger” beschließt ABNORM ihre Spielzeit wesentlich besser, als sie diese angefangen hat. Wenn sich die Band in Zukunft etwas mehr auf Atmosphäre konzentriert und die holprigen Ausbrecher ins Uptempo vergisst, steht aber auch mit ABNORM eine starke Band aus dem Baguette-Land vor der Türe!
Auch wenn es in Zeiten von MP3s etwas seltsam Anmuten mag, kann ich für diese Split-Kassette eigentlich nur meine volle Empfehlung aussprechen! Die musikalischen Leistungen versprechen richtig packende Full-Length-Scheiben und machen definitiv Lust auf mehr! 

NOCTURNAL CULT Webzine (Uk)
What we have here is four tracks each from two upcoming death metal bands out of France.  They both have a taste for the old school style and the underground sound.  I will review both bands separately.

Up first we have Necros who are dark and morbid sounding with some serious leanings in their style to early Immolation and the underground early 90s style of American death metal like Incantation, Goreaphobia and Rottrevore.  To An Endless Chaos gets things underway with a stomping groove and a eerie yet brutal sound giving the listener the sense of a ritualistic procession.  Towards the end of the song I hear elements of early Immolation, especially their use of guitar squeals.  Bloody Throne is a ripping fast slaughterhouse of dark morbidity which bears the hallmarks of Deliverance era Incantation, though when the pace speeds up sawing violence erupts.  The bizarre angular riffing in the middle of Gehenna reminds me somewhat of Cadaver's debut though with a  The close their half of the demo with a cover of Incantation's Anoint the Chosen.  Necros is a splendid metallic alloy of the underground American death metal style from the early 90s.

Next up is Abnorm's side which has a slightly faster overall tempo and a touch of black metal thrown in for good measure.  After a quick intro the demo rumbles into a violently abrasive set of black and death metal riffs that possess a overwhelmingly caustic feel to them.  The song develops a galloping tempo and circular riffing before breaking into typical death metal grooves.  Schemes of Hate and Denial breaks into violent bouts of speedy drums and powerful bombast undercut by double bass drumming.  A hint of atmosphere peers out from the shadows on the track with some Stockholm scene riffing.  The Dead End Path Passenger concludes Abnorm's half of the demo with deep guttural vocals and disharmonic guitar work quickly falling into some blackened death metal devilry.  The composition rises and plummets with regularity into smashed cymbals.  Chugging guitars grind like a hacksaw cutting bone and flesh.  Slightly more atmospheric and darker in overall feel than Necros, Abnorm seems to revel in the murky ether of putrid blackened death.

 Necros and Abnorm are breaking absolutely no new ground on their demos.  However they are two bands with their hearts in the right place.  An underground style and a traditional approach make this demo tape an old school death metallers terrifying dream.   Forever underground.   

NOCTURNAL HORDE Webzine (Den) 
A split tape from 2 young French bands is what's up right now. There are a good deal of great French bands around, also in the more brutal vein, even though the ones we are hearing the most about, are the ones doing progressive or technical metal. The 2 bands on this split are doing their metal in a brutal manner!
The first band Necros are displaying their violence through old schooled death metal with roots in the Americas, especially slightly chaotic and dark bands as Immolation and Incantation can be traced in the music, the last mentioned band is also being honored with a great version of 'Anoint The Chosen'. The band is delivering some interesting tunes with a good deal of energy and intensity, and even though they keeps it brutal all the way through, they keep it interesting with great breaks and a flair for making flowing atmospheres.
Abnorm does also play death metal, a bit in the same vein as Necron, though with a bit more harmonic and melodic guitar work, influenced from black metal it sounds. Again very good death metal with a lot to offer, and again not the most original music, but damn it's delivered well and intense and that means so much more. Dark, heavy and pummeling.
This split showcases 2 good and quite new death metal bands, which really are worth checking out and it will be great to follow them into the future, as they both have a base worth building on. I don't really know how popular this kind of death metal is today, though both bands should have a good chance of landing a record deal and get out to they masses, at least that is what they deserve, this is a release to check out for all death metal fans! 

NOISE GATE Zine (Macedonia)
Necros are the openers and play simple yet obscure death/ black. They are faster by my opinion than Abnorm, carry big energy and power with the songs. Many tempo and rhythm changes, with obscure and fast shred riffing mainly... I'm not a big fan of this style, so that's maybe why my reviews are poor... Anyway, the vocals are low and mid growling followed by often blast-beat on the drums. The same evil and dark melodies, shredded normally. The songs last about 3-4 minutes and are dark and evil! What can I say else? These are 4 tracks featured 3 original and the last one "Anoint the chosen" is a cover version of Incantation's original...
Abnorm are simply said, death/ black, in mid-tempo with slow diabolic drumming. Here are many breakdowns, and rhythm and tempo changes, and the vocal growls both in low and mid scale. The riffs are distorted melodic shreds, followed by temporarely blast-beating. Sometimes the drums are just straight forward drumming, and aren't too technical, but yet energetic and raw. The production is good one, you can clearly hear what is being played... The bass section is a little bit quiet. With more louder bass the songs would gain heaviness! Still it's pretty hard to the bone! The 4 songs presented are from their demo from 2009!

PITCHLINE Webzine (Spa)
A éstas alturas sigue habiendo gente que ve interesante el editar demos en cassete, no seré yo quien rechace éste tipo de lanzamientos, dios me libre, pero el encontrarte con ésta Split Tape editada por el sello francés Nihilistic Holocaust me ha traído buenos recuerdos a una etapa en la cual en el Underground se editaban una buena cantidad de ediciones de éste tipo y funcionaban la mar de bien. Ahora, lógicamente los tiempos han cambiado, pero el recobrar ésta esencia y sobretodo hacerlo con calidad y buen hacer es totalmente meritorio, así como digno de alabar.
El lanzamiento se trata como digo de una split tape, -aunque el sello nos haga hecho llegar un CDR con la portada fotocopiada de la demo-, de dos bandas francesas de Death Metal, y por lo que parece llevan muy bien el trabajar en éste tipo de formatos, ya que han editado demos a bandas como Entrails (Demo – Tape), Heaven Herat (Demo – CDR), Impureza (Demo CD), Reincrametaion (Split CDR) y otras muchas ediciones de éste tipo, sobretodo recopilaciones y cintas compartidas. Total esencia underground.
Las bandas francesas que hacía referencia y que comparten ésta split tape y en las que nos debemos centrar son por un lado Necros, una novel banda francesa formada hace algo más de dos años y que ahora reedita su demo “To an endless chaos...” también lanzada por la misma banda durante éste año. Exceptuando éste material, un Split CD donde incluían un tema conjuntamente a 4 bandas y una demo grabada en el año 2006 (“Autopsy”) es el único material reseñable que tienen. Por el otro lado tenemos también a otra banda francesa. De nombre Abnorm también se trata de una banda con poco bagaje a nivel de ediciones, pues únicamente tienen su demo de éste año 2009 (“Schemes of Hate and Denial”) ahora también incluida en ésta Split Tape editada por el sello Nihilistic Holocaust. Con lo cual lo que tenemos aquí es realmente una nueva edición de sendas demos ya lanzadas anteriormente por las mismas bandas, pero ésta vez en formato compartido.
Pasando a analizar los aspectos musicales de ambas bandas, con los dos combos franceses tenemos a sendos grupos de Death Metal prácticamente cortadas por el mismo patrón a nivel de sonido, actitud y forma de entender el Death Metal. Necros nos incluyen 4 temas entre los cuales destaca la inclusión de una versión, en éste caso se trata de una de las bandas a la cual deben mucha parte del sonido que practican, no es otra que el “Anoint The Chosen” canción que iniciaba el “The Infernal Storm” de Incantation, banda con la cual Necros guarda un gran paralelismo a nivel músical con una concepción muy pareja en la ejecución. Aquí tenemos su principal influencia y aunque sea su primordial imagen, también podemos escuchar sus escarceos a lo Immolation o Morbid Angel, con lo cual lo que tenemos a lo largo de los 4 cortes es Death Metal añejo, de calidad fuera de toda duda y que refleja perfectamente lo que se entiende dentro del estilo, oscuridad, ritmos pesados a la vez que densos con riffs totalmente afilados. No se trata de una banda excesivamente rápida, trabaja más con ritmos a medio tempo con buenas melodías, como el caso de “To An Endless Chaos...”, que recuerdan enormemente a la banda liderada por John McEntee. Así mismo el sonido esta realmente bien para ser una demo y cumple perfectamente su cometido al tratarse una de las primeras grabaciones de una banda novel. Un buen y gran descubrimiento estos chicos franceses, que con solo una demo demuestran tener las ideas muy claras y sobretodo lo acreditan por como las llevan a cabo.
Por la parte de Abnorm tenemos 3 temas mas intro que siguen mas o menos los parámetros mostrados en Necros. Canciones muy densas y oscuras, algo orientadas a sonidos del tipo Grave, Funebrarum, Incantantion y bandas parejas. Quizá suenen más brutos que Necros, pero así y todo mantienen ese aroma crudo y totalmente old school que suelen dispensar éste tipo de bandas. Grata sorpresa también ésta banda.
Para terminar hacer mención que se trata de una edición totalmente underground, de dos bandas las cuales son un fiel reflejo de él que mantienen excelentemente su espíritu. Esperemos que sigan bajo ése camino, y puedan ofrecernos una buena remesa de grabaciones que sigan con la buena calidad mostrada en ésta Split Tape.  

PROCESSION OF BLACK DOOM Zine (Australia)
Two new French bands here sharing one tape, both moving in blackened death territories. Even if I despise reviewing anything involving death, for reasons of sucking at it, I have to admit this was a fresh breath of air in between the usual serving of long-drawn depressive French BM.
First off is Necros, with three original tracks of blackened old school death and a cover of Incantation's "Anoint The Chosen" at the end. The coversong is very well executed and leaves me little to whine over, even if the vocals never entirely stands up to the original track. As for their own material, hell, it's not bad at all. Good, engaging riffage and tight genre-typical drums, playing around with both the technical, chaotic elements and the more headbanger-friendly, simplistic stuff. It's definitively a band I could imagine seeing live, especially after a few beers. I think my preferred track here is the first, "To An Endless Chaos..", but it's all pretty good and it shows a lot of promise.
Then there is Abnorm's side, which starts off with a thirty second intro before blasting off with an assault of uptempo death-laden blackthrash. The songs progress very fluently, playing around with different riffs and solo-guitars, and the vocalist immediately comes off as more versatile. Generally the material, again three full original tracks, feels very competent and well written, delivering a brief and direct assault leaving you wanting more. The track that steals the show here is definitively the last one, "Schemes of Hate and Denial", probably the blackest of the bunch. It's a midtempoed, heavy motherfucker of a track, dragging on for almost six minutes with some of the darkest riffs on the entire disc. (On a sidenote here, the tracklist insists that the last track is in fact called "The Dead End Path Passenger" but after checking around I am pretty certain whoever did the artwork has just gotten the last two tracks mixed up.)
Again, both acts strikes me as extremely stage friendly, but on tape Abnorm comes out on top. I encourage everyone to check these bands out for themselves; chances are you'll like both of them. 

PUTREFACTIVE EFFECT Zine (Fra)
You can count on Gab's deep interest on unknown bands to release some pestilential metal of death. This time, here are two french acts into old school death metal and death/black metal.
NECROS is the death metallic representative. They are into old school US inspired death metal, the early recordings of INCANTATION & IMMOLATION plus some pieces of AUTOPSY for the slower parts. NECROS add their personal touch through their death metal with more personal riff though. The music isn't groundbreaking, but you can find enough satisfying catchiness and morbidity to quench your thirst of death metal from the 90's. Vocally, I can't help it, but it reminds me Hagend of BLOODY SIGN. Unconsciously they are probably influenced by their landmates, even if most people disagree with this, I guess it's due to common influences from both bands, ahah! They covered « Anoint the chosen » by the mighty INCANTATION, it differs a bit from the original, not an easy song to play, I know what I'm talking about.
ABNORM, the death/black challenger is also rooted in the 90's, with some fast and evil music. Fortunately, the death metallic side of ABNORM prevails in their music, and you can think about the Austrian BELPHEGOR in their mid-period (Necrodemon Terrorsatan) and their landmates of VORKREIST (first album). ABNORM mixes fast parts with slower, medium grunts with screamed ones, some SLAYER-esque guitar solos, black metal sounding riffs, etc... The last track « The dead end path passenger » is my favourite and where the bands is efficient when playing on slower pace with decadent and hauting riffs.
Two bands at the eve of their putrid and dark art, but it's some promising debut. 

RLYEH Zine (Pol)
Morbid French Cocksucker" znów w natarciu! Czyli Gab od Nihilistic Holocaust ponownie sprawdza się w tym, co potraf najlepiej! Tak, znowu kaseta z dwoma tym razem interesującymj zespołami Na pierwszy ogień idą żabojady z NECROS. Brutalny, ciężki Death Metal z potężnym, matowym brzmieniem. Trzy własne numery i coyer INCANTATION. No i fakt, coyerowany zespół zdaje się być wyznacznikiem stylu prezentowanego przez NECROS. Potworny ciężar zderza się z Kalopu!ącymi bębnami dając śmiertelny strzał w pysk. "Bloody Arone , oraz "Gehenna" to prawdziwe rarytasy w rzeczonym gatunku. Mariaż zmian tempa nie jest chaotyczny, wszystko ma tu swoje miejsce, a jednak czuć jakże miłą naturę chaosu! W podobnej stylistyce obraca się drugi tu reprezentant Francji, czyli ABNORM. Ich muzyka nie jest szybsza, ale bardziej czytelna. Pojawiają się solówki, podwójne wokale i jest git! W wolniejszych partiach klimat robi się iście ponury- marny totalny "dóf', a temperatura wokół zdaje się gwałtownie opadać ... ABNORM ma w swoich szeregach zdolnego bębniarza- to słychać! Wokalista też wie jak zaaranżować swoje partie- nie pcha się przed orkiestrę, a i umiejętności ma całkiem spoko. Stronę należącą do ABNORM, również należy więc uznać za udaną . Oba zespoły zaprezentowaly wysoki poziom- ma Gab nosa do takich wynalazków! Pozostaje mi zachęcić wszystkich do zdobycia tego wydawnictwa! NECROS (8,5/10), ABNORM (8/10). 

SHAPELESS Webzine (Ita)
UNDERGROUND DEATH/BLACK METAL FROM THE DEPTHS! Questa definizione, come si suol dire, mi ha tolto le parole di bocca, in quanto inquadra alla perfezione il genere proposto da queste due orde transalpine che rispondono al nome di Necros e Abnorm (death che più death non si pụ!) che l'etichetta Nihilistic Holocaust (e vai con il putridume!) ha accoppiato in questo split originariamente edito in formato musicassetta ma arrivato nelle mie mani in formato CD per motivi a me misteriosi. A dire il vero il materiale ivi contenuto non è proprio fresco fresco in quanto questo split è praticamente l'unione tra il precedente demo dei Necros ("To An Endless Chaos...", 2009, autoprodotto) e di "Schemes Of Hate And Denial"degli Abnorm (demo autoprodotto, sempre del 2009, peṛ con la terza e la quarta canzone invertite nell'ordine): chi abbia già avuto l'onore di sentire questi due lavori, comunque, penso si possa contare sulle dita di una mano. Tornando a noi, cominciamo presentando il lato dei Necros, trio dedito ad un death dalle atmosfere oscure e sataniche sulla scia dei vari Morbid Angel, Immolation, Deicide e Incantation, quest'ultimi omaggiati anche con la cover finale di "Anoint The Chosen", tratta da "The Infernal Storm" del 2000. In effetti l'influenza del combo a stelle e strisce è ben evidente, soprattutto per la tipica alternanza tra momenti più furiosi e altri più cadenzati ai confini del doom, anche se tutto sommato i Necros sono abbastanza godibili e suonano con la necessaria perizia e cattiveria, da onesti mestieranti del genere; molto buona la prova del cantante/bassista Ludo, che propone una timbrica molto secca che mi ha ricordato Kolesne dei trucidissimi Krisiun; stessa cosa si pụ dire del chitarrista Ben e del drummer Jeṛme, tecnicamente non eccelsi ma comunque rispettabili nonostante non propongano poi chissà quali variazioni sul tema. Il risultato sono quindi un pugno di canzoni ben fatte, con numerosi cambi di tempo, specialmente nella traccia d'apertura "To An Endless Chaos..", alla quale segue la più massiccia "Bloody Throne" (Incantation docet), mentre "Gehenna" ricorda molto lo stile della scuola sudamericana per quanto è grezza e putrida, traccia molto sparata, che fa da preludio alla cover degli Incantation, riproposta molto fedelmente all'originale e quindi non valutabile.
Più moderni e black oriented sono invece gli Abnorm, che, dopo un breve introduzione atmosferica, scatenano la loro furia potendo contare su un rifferama nervoso e serrato e su una batteria sempre lanciata ai cento all'ora: i momenti in cui si pụ tirare il fiato sono molto rari, questi francesi picchiano duro per tutta la durata del demo, inserendo ogni tanto dei mid tempo affini al thrash americano e sconfinando sovente in momenti più gelidi e arpeggiati, memori della lezione impartita da gruppi svedesi quali Necrophobic o i Naglfar più death-oriented, anche se un paragone con la scena svedese in generale non sarebbe certo un azzardo. Inutile citare una traccia piuttosto che l'altra, in quanto nel loro lato gli Abnorm dimostrano un'omogeneità che fissa lo standard qualitativo delle canzoni ad un livello ben preciso, variabile a seconda dei gusti, abbastanza dignitoso secondo i miei; segnalo per dovere di cronaca la finale "The Dead End Path Passengers", unica nel lotto che punta più sull'atmosfera che sulla velocità, con un risultato finale discreto.
Tirando le somme, so bene che sarebbe scontato concludere dicendo che la Francia non è stata certo generosa in passato nel partorire valide band in campo death metal: a parte episodi sporadici (mi vengono in mente i folli Arkhon Infaustus, o, per parlare dei giorni nostri, gruppi più tecnici tipo i Gojira) la nazione transalpina non ha avuto molte frecce al suo arco come per esempio si potrebbe dire in ambito black metal, tuttavia l'onestà e l'attitudine di questa produzione, seppur obiettivamente maggiori della qualità intrinseca del prodotto, non sono assolutamente discutibili e, visto che ho cominciato la recensione con un modo di dire, la concludo allo stesso modo consigliando questo split "solo ai fanatici del genere". 6/10

TREATS FROM THE UNDERGROUND Webzine (Usa)
This release is originally a split tape release. The split features two bands from France playing Death
Black Metal music. The first four tracks are from NECROS. These guys have a very cool, brutal old
school Death Metal sound. The music is raw, fast paced with a cold vibe all through out. There are
some touches of Thrash & Black Metal mixed within too.  The last four tracks come from
ABNORM. These guys play a similar style as NECROS. It's an old school Death Metal sound with
some cold harsh Black Metal elements present all through out. The music is very spastic fast paced &
raw. There are some slight grooves & change ups in certain areas, but for the most part it's brutal &
fast. Two very cool bands from France that should be giving some attention, especially from all the
old school Black Metal hordes out there! 

VOICES FROM THE DARKSIDE Webzine (Ger)
A rather unimpressive looking product on the surface, but rest assured that this split will grab you by the throat and drag you to the underworld. The NECROS side of the split is steeped in INCANTATION and DEAD CONGREGATION riffing, and all the hellish acoutrements one might expect of that style. On the B-side is ABNORM, a more Black Metal oriented sounding band, but one that has no less forcefulness than NECROS. ABNORM operate on the thrashier side of Death Metal, with faster tempos and considerably tighter drumming. Unfortunately, the production values are not as deep and cavernous as the NECROS tracks, so the songs, though good, are a little subdued. Great stuff all things considered. For more info and ordering details check out xxx. Nat Shapiro

VIOLENT SOLUTIONS Webzine (Fra)
France, l’autre pays du Old School Death Metal, preuve n°2
Après avoir farfouillé dans les poubelles du Sud de la France à la recherche d’une preuve tangible de l’existence d’une scène Death Old School, mon tarin fut irrémédiablement attiré par l’odeur du lisier breton et du fumet de chou pourri alsacien. Deux groupes, deux régions diamétralement opposées, deux styles de Death pas si différents que ça. Déjà, pour pouvoir apprécier cette offrande crasseuse, il faut avoir à disposition, un lecteur de cassette en état de marche. Chez Nihilistic Holocaust, on fait du « roots » jusqu’au bout. Ca ne me dérange pas, je suis un fondu des cassettes ! Petite jaquette simple et sympa, le minimum syndical assuré, pour pouvoir si besoin est, contacter les groupes ou la distro.

On ouvre le bal avec Necros, trio formé de Ludo (basse/chant), Ben (gratte) et Jérôme (batterie). Formé en 2006 à Colmar, sous le nom de Torment Pain, ils sortent une démo plutôt pas mal foutu mais assez éloignée de ce qui suivra par la suite. En 2008, ils décident de changer de nom. Necros est né. Gloire à eux.
Changement de nom, radicalisation de la musique. Ce split en est la preuve formelle. Après un petit crépitement de feu de bois accompagné de quelques martèlements sinistres, on se prend un mandale dans la tronche quand déboule « To An Endless Chaos… ». Production à l’ancienne, grasse, sale, croustillante, un peu étouffée. Un pur bonheur. Première constatation, Necros a mangé l’intégrale d’Incantation et le meilleur d’Immolation. C’est d’une noirceur incroyable, très typé Death U.S. de la belle époque. Old School à mort. Quelques touches de Black par-ci, par-là, une guitare qui fait des merveilles dans les aigus, une basse ronronnante et un batteur qui frappe fort. Des breaks incroyables, des ralentissements terribles, un max d’accélération pour réveiller l’auditeur tétanisé par l’ambiance malsaine que ce trio arrive à créer. Un jour Maître K. a dit dans une interview : « Le Death Metal ne doit pas être joyeux ». La preuve est ici, dans ce split.
« Bloody Throne » est un régal. Un magma sonore tantôt lent, tantôt rapide, accompagné d’une voix tellement haineuse qu’on se dit que le chanteur a bouffé quelques hooligans au ptit déj !
On ressent quelque fois des influences Morbidiennes. Et ce passage de basse, terrible je vous dis !
« Gehenna », titre bourrin à souhait vous achève en ne laissant aucun répit. Mon préféré, au Death Metal !
Pour finir, comme un hommage rendu à leur influence majeure, Necros se fend d’une reprise d’Incantation. « Anoint The Chosen » tiré de « The Infernal Storm ». Purée, grande classe !
Notons d’ailleurs, qu’en live, Necros est vraiment ultime.
La note : 4/5

Après tant de noirceur, après s’être fait laminer à grands coups de Mort Metal à l’ancienne, on se dit qu’il ne peut plus rien nous arriver d’affreux maintenant. Ben si ! c’était sans compter sur les affreux jojo de AbnorM. Ils nous viennent de Pont-l’Abbé, capitale du Pays Bigouden. AbnorM, c’est un réunion d’initiales qui fait mal. K.D et L.C aux grattes, T.C à la batterie et enfin N.B à la basse/voix. Ils ont le mérite d’avoir enregistré eux-mêmes, tout seuls comme des grands, les trois titres qu’on retrouve sur ce split. Après une intro sombre et froide, « Occularis Infernum » déboule à cent à l’heure dans la tronche. Une production proche de celle de Necros, crade, un peu plus étouffée, mais terriblement efficace. On se prend une dose de Death mâtiné de Black avec quelques passages Thrashisants. C’est tout aussi malsain que leurs potes mais dans un genre moins lent et plus du tout typé Death U.S. On a le droit à quelque chose qui se rapprocherait plus d’un Bloody Sign. D’ailleurs, tout le long de ces trois titres, j’ai l’impression d’entendre des sonorités proches de ce groupe culte. Ce n’est que succession de passages lents et rapides. Avec Necros on était dans le charcutage lent et méticuleux. Avec AbnorM, on fait plus dans le désossage rapide et sans concession. « Schemes Of Hate And Denial », est un morceau qui sonne comme du Bloody Sign, je trouve ça vraiment excellent. La voix se fait plus Black, le tempo plus lourd et massif. C’est un petit rouleau-compresseur qui vous broie sans aucun répit. « The Dead End Path Passenger »,titre plus mid tempo, dissonant au début, rugueux par la suite, accroche par cette voix qui se veut caverneuse et aiguë suivant les moments. On se croirait revenu vingt ans en arrière. Definitivement mon titre préféré. Ca blast, les soli sont dissonants, les riffs sont parfois d’un Black du plus bel effet. Quelques cris de détresse ponctuent la chanson. Saga Death Metal, ambiance de la frousse ! La musique de AbnorM inquiète et fait peur, c’est tellement bon. Comme dit plus haut, faut pas que ça soit joyeux. Ca ne l’est pas ! Ils arrivent à nous faire oublier que l’on est au 21ème siècle.
Merde alors, que c’est bon ! Le groupe est d’un professionnalisme déroutant. Tout est à sa place, mention spéciale aux soli que je trouve excellents et à cette capacité de faire naître des ambiances hallucinantes.
La note : 4/5

Quel split de malade. Pourquoi se priver de choses simples comme cette cassette ? Je me la suis procuré pour trois petits malheureux euros. Après avec les frais de port c’est peut-être un peu plus cher (cinq euros ?). C’est rien, comparé à la somme de travail abattu par ces deux groupes bien de chez nous.
Deux styles de Death, deux groupes méritant de percer. Franchement après la première écoute, on n’a qu’une envie, réappuyer sur le bouton « lecture ». C’est limite frustrant, car on aimerait en entendre plus. Vivement les LP !
Ce split, par son ambiance et son originalité, vous renvoie directement à la grande époque du Death comme on l’aime. La bande son de votre mort, lente et douloureuse à souhait ! 8/10 Elsass Chris