When I covered Necrophobic’s 2020 release, Dawn of the Damned, I spoke at length about what this band means to me as a reviewer and fan of heavy metal music. These guys singlehandedly got me into black metal, and when I hear other bands playing a similarly melodic, death metal-infused version of the genre, I can’t help but hold them up next to these guys, my personal archetype of what this style is supposed to sound like. There’s something so effortless and genuine about the way Necrophobic crafts their songs, combining many styles into one distinct, weaponized sound. Their comeback era, begun by 2018’s Mark of the Necrogram, has been stellar, but AMG’s Law of Diminishing Records™ demands that the probability of each subsequent release being a success must become exponentially more slim. Couple this with the fact that Necrophobic’s guitar duo of Sebastian Ramstedt and Johan Bergebäck released an incredible debut from their project In Aphelion in the time since Dawn of the Damned, and a nodule of doubt began to grow inside my brain: can these guys possibly still have enough firepower in the tank to blow me away with a new record in 2024?
Any and all doubt I had about In the Twilight Grey was obliterated when I first heard the embedded single “As Stars Collide” for the first time. The song uses Necrophobic’s well-worn formula for melodic black metal, but it infuses that core sound with a regally pagan atmosphere. It only took a couple of listens for me to start involuntarily chanting along with the melodic intro riff, and the arpeggios played beneath the verse never cease to dazzle me. Shortly after the midpoint, a thrashy interlude paves the way for one of the many fantastic solo breaks on the album. The mid-paced nature of the track makes it somewhat of an outlier, but it’s an excellent lure to hook apprehensive listeners before laying them to waste with more violent fare.
Speaking of being hooked, In the Twilight Grey didn’t grab me as quickly as its predecessors; the varied track list initially lulled me into a vulnerable state of seeming indifference before it finally unleashed its genius. This album has just about every region of the black metal world covered, whether you’re looking for thrashened black (“Clavis Inferni”), blackened death (“Cast in Stone”), atmo-black (“Nordanvind”), the obligatory driving anthem that must be found on each Necrophobic album (“Stormcrow”), or a song that combines pretty much all of that (“In the Twilight Grey”). But my favorite track here is the record’s centerpiece, “Shadows of the Brightest Night.” It begins with some anxious leads atop the powerful drum work of band founder Joakim Sterner and builds towards a brief blast of full-on blackened death metal. But the magic truly begins after a brief rest when some deliciously creepy palm-mutes begin bouncing back and forth and the song enters a sinister groove. Nasty as hell, but remarkably catchy, the track twists and turns, including mind-blowing solos and some truly terrifying vocal sections from Anders Strokirk. It’s no exaggeration when I say that this might be my favorite Necrophobic track of all time.
I really can’t compliment this band highly enough. That effortlessness that I alluded to in the intro is present throughout In the Twilight Grey’s entire 56-minute runtime (I was honestly shocked when I saw that number while writing this. The album feels much shorter.) In my review of Dawn of the Damned, I compared Necrophobic to a blackened Judas Priest, and that assessment still holds. Necrophobic is often described as blackened death metal, and while that is technically true, these guys are heavy metal to the core. They can be as brutal as they want to be, but they know when to dial up an emotive solo or two to add some delicious contrast. Ramstedt and Bergebäck have cemented themselves as one of my favorite guitar duos in metal; the latter’s rhythm work makes sure the Rocky snarl is on my face as the former’s leads melt it off.
In the Twilight Grey may have taken a few listens to fully hook me, but once its talons took hold, there was no chance for escape. It’s a close call, but I’ll go out on a limb and declare that this is the strongest album that Necrophobic has released during their late-career surge. And if you know how I feel about their past two records, you know that to be high praise, indeed.
Rating: Great
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 128 kbps mp3
Label: Century Media Records
Websites: facebook.com/necrophobic.official | www.necrophobic.net
Releases Worldwide: March 15th, 2024
