Review by Felix on January 6, 2021.

The duo Necro and Equimanthorn, better known as Pest, took a liking for bringing two exclusive studio songs to the people via vinyl in 2006. Good news, the result can still be heard today. Rest assured that the relatively raw, mangy and with a mean undertone produced songs are in no way inferior to those on the regular studio albums. The title track, released on the B side ("Side Metal"), has a few schizophrenic-morbid guitar tones, but mostly the gas pedal is pressed. Moreover, the melodies, as far as one can speak of them, have a bulky note and even the short, quiet introduction spreads a mood of discomfort. The barking, nagging and spitting of Necro doesn't exactly create a cozy mood either. 'Evil Return' (the song) breaks out into a wild tempo again and again and sometimes it almost sounds like the drums can't keep up. In the end, however, everything fits together.

'Damnation Until Death' also sees no point in restraint. Rather, it hits even harder and faster than the title track. Released on the A side ("Side Black", of course) it immediately switches into attack mode. Again, the melodies are rather hard to identify and not truly catchy, but beautifully gruesome and caustic. Through the inferno shimmers nevertheless not only towards the end of the piece the one or other guitar harmony. Here, too, the hoarse-raw vocals again set some vile accents and in this respect fit very well to the not dissonant, but nevertheless very idiosyncratic guitar lines of the duo. An affinity for the anarchic there-are-no-rules attitude of the punk movement cannot be hidden by Pest, but this does not affect their completely black core. Doubtlessly, those who are in search of a more unscrupulous version of Nifelheim will be happy with Evil Return, which is ornamented with a simple yet attractive artwork. I don’t say that the material is essential, but the ten minutes demonstrate that Pest were on a very competitive level back in 2006. Only in 2013, unfortunately, things looked quite different.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Review by Felix on March 10, 2020.

Lo and behold, one of the best tracks of Necrohell's new album from 2017 was already recorded in 2014. The closer 'My Night a Crafty Witch' features Nocturno Culto on vocals, but he does not make the difference. It is just a very good composition that shows the typical elements of Necrohell. Blizzard-like guitar leads create an ice-cold atmosphere, I feel a certain Transylvanian hunger and melodic elements are trampled into dust. Rumbling drums underline the merciless attack of the guitars whose mid-paced riffs cut deeply into the flesh. The sound quality of this piece is lower than that of the other tracks, but this doesn't matter. This song embodies fury, pressure and ferocity in a pretty phenomenal manner.

Generally speaking, the Greek duo did not modify its style and therefore its influences are still identifiable. With or without Nuctorno Culto, the guys with the pseudonyms Sorg and Ungod love to remind us of the icy Norwegian art of the mid-nineties. Grimness and bitterness go hand in hand and Necrohell are like a raging black beast that has nothing else in mind but to sink its teeth into the next victim. Don't be fooled by the sinister yet atmospheric artwork. Any form of atmospheric elements stands in the shadow of the relentless guitars, the mostly hyper fast drumming and the deep yet pretty natural voice. I like the uncompromising approach of the band, although it is a little bit problematic.

All songs have a duration between five and seven minutes, all have a comparable number of breaks and high velocity is an integral element of every piece. Furthermore, none of them has a conventional verse-chorus-verse pattern. From this follows that the single cuts have difficulties to develop a unique appearance. Perhaps the band should think about the arrangements of its tracks. It is not necessary to give them a completely new appearance, certainly not! Yet it could be helpful to vary the songwriting slightly. Nevertheless, I don't want to overemphasize this aspect. Deathwings opens the gates to hell in a really impressive manner. There are not many bands with such a cruel, devastating and anti-human way of proceeding.

Despite the more or less whooshing mix, the first eight tracks of the album do not suffer from a weak production. Coldness meets density and pressure flirts with bestiality. I do not say that this is the right production for those who want to identify each and every nuance, but honestly speaking, I am sure that detail-loving guys do not even think about buying this album. It doesn't matter whether one tests the title track, 'Horns Rises' or 'Shroud of a Horned Nightmare', all songs deliver a black metal massacre, not least because of the rough sound. The duo had no intention to molest the audience with keyboards, dreamful sequences or female vocals and therefore potential weaknesses of the atrocious mix do not come into effect. What remains is almost an hour of music for the very black-hearted community, actually neither better nor worse than its predecessor, but I give two additional percentage points due to the egregious closer. Let's hope that this track works as an inspiration for Darkthrone's next full-length. Their "Arctic Thunder" was not much louder than a fart of Fenriz.

Rating: 7.8 out of 10