Italian gothic metallers Ecnephias have been plagued by line-up and label changes since their inception in 1996, alongside not quite knowing their place in the world, and genre hopping more times than most people have had hot meals. However, with a now solid line up and after successfully signing to cult label Code666 it looks like it’s fourth time lucky for the five piece with the release of Necrogod.

Before spinning this record, what immediately draws attention is the incredible album artwork created by graphic artist Pierre-Alain D. With such dark, provocative imagery the music certainly has an awful lot to live up to and thankfully the band manage to deliver. Vocalist Mancan’s hearty growls and gravelly baritones are complemented by Sakis Tolis’(Rotting Christ) guest chorals on ‘Voodoo (Daughter of Idols)’ making for a totally dynamic track that proves to be the monster of this opus.

The guitars, bass and drums fit neatly together like a well crafted jigsaw puzzle whilst the keys heighten and intensify the overall gothic atmosphere of the music. Lyrically the songs have the potential to be fascinating, focusing on the pre-Christian cults of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Africa, India and South America. This seems to have been too large of a topic for the band to handle though, as there are moments when the songs become uninspired, repetitive and dull – there are only so many times you can hear “oh Hades!” before it gets old.

6/10

Angela Davey

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