Review by Carl on August 30, 2021.

Everything about this band has you expecting war metal in the vein of acts like Barbaric Horde, Diocletian or Blood Chalice, but after listening to this, I was surprised (and honestly, at first a tad disappointed) to find that things are a little more nuanced in the Savage Necromancy universe. Not a lot, but compared to the acts mentioned before, they are. And after a second listen I realized that that is what makes this album stand out among its peers.

Their sound is a combination of primitive black/death metal like Archgoat and Profanatica with some Conqueror sprinkled on top on one side, and black/thrash like Nifelheim, old Sodom and traces of Hellhammer injected on the other. The band alternates between pummeling slower primitivism and fast chaotic pummeling rage, establishing themselves clearly in the black/death end of the spectrum. The thing that sets them apart though, is their thrash infused riffing, that goes beyond the tremelo-picked savagery of the bestial black genre, with some awesome guitar leads added. At times they have me thinking of early Sodom and Kreator getting into a knife fight with Sarcofago and Holocausto, while Impaled Nazarene shouts abuse at all of them, but seen through a Blasphemy-meets-Archgoat lens. Thanks to the excellent guitar work, the band succeeds in channeling their harsh black/death metal assault into recognizable and well-rounded songs, at times reminding me of a cruder Körgull The Exterminator. It's on top of this already aggressive and volatile mixture that come the vocals of Diabolical Fuckwitch of the Black Flame (best moniker ever in my opinion), with some of the lowest female vocals you probably ever heard, sounding utterly menacing and demonic. I can only think of one other singer to compare her to, and that's Dana Duffey from Mythic and her vicious guttural delivery. The combination of these demonic vocals with the harsh music makes for some pretty abrasive metallic extremity, that sure hits the spot when it comes to black/death metal.

The production fits the music as a glove. Everything can be heard clearly, yet the sound remains gritty and emanates underground spirit, just as it should on a release in this genre. Everything on this release sounds powerful and energetic, propelling the music forward with frenetic intensity, delivering the goods in admirable fashion.

At first I didn't know what to think of Savage Necromancy and their debut full length, because it sounded a tiny tad more refined than I had expected, but after repeated spins I did start to appreciate their take on the black/death/thrash genre. Granted, there's nothing new happening here, but they have delivered another great album in the style. Together with like-minded acts like Terrorsaw, Violent Hammer and Putrid, Savage Necromancy keep the flame burning, and for that I thank them.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Michael on September 23, 2023.

With Seven Crowns And Seven Seals the German Lovecraft worshippers release their fourth (and at least by me long-awaited) album. If the guys from the Ruhr area, who have grown to a quintet since 2018, have looked more and more in the direction of black metal on their last albums in addition to gloomy death metal, these influences have been significantly reduced on Seven Crowns And Seven Seals in favor of more classic metal influences and a very appealing atmosphere to spread.

The band starts with a very spherical and melancholic intro ('Sombre Tidings') before they mercilessly let the hammer strike with their first real song 'Hammer From The Howling Void'. At least for the first forty seconds, because from then on very atmospheric and thoughtful passages, which come across very melodic, creep into the song again and again. And that's exactly what runs as a red thread through the album, this atmosphere, which was in it already here and there on the previous albums, but not as superficial as on Sulphur Aeon 2023. If you don't want to wait so long for this atmosphere, but experience it directly, you should listen to the beginning of 'Usurper Of The Earth And Sea' - here you immediately get an oppressive feeling through the acoustic guitar and the whispered words and shortly after that the Lovecraftian inferno begins, what you are used to from Sulphur Aeon. Monolithic riffs, relentless growls and pounding drums that herald the end of the world. But as everywhere on the album not only dark storms and the end of the world prevail, not everywhere in between the sun shines again through misty wispy clouds and donates some comfort.

In the title track the band collaborates with Laurent from Chapel Of Disease as well as Michael Zech (Secrets Of The Moon), whereby a truly epic death metal song has come out, which is difficult to put into words. The song begins very majestic-dragging, so it turns in the course of the almost nine minutes in an all-consuming maelstrom of Lovecraftian madness. Shimmering guitars whisper around the ears of the listener and the clear vocals of M whisper warmly sung words to drag the listener even further into the vastness of madness. Alone these clear vocals is another, although not entirely new, feature that the incredible span of the music of Sulphur Aeon again expanded by a considerable way and makes it much more accessible than it was the case before. And for the crowning conclusion Sulphur Aeon summoned a few Mesopotamian gods 'Beneath The Ziqqurat'. Here the band shows once again all their skills and ignites a real death metal firework and so intense that you can definitely get goosebumps listening to one or the other part.

It is truly difficult for me to put this monster of an album into the right words, but it is certain that Sulphur Aeon have surpassed themselves with Seven Crowns And Seven Seals. I would not have thought that they could have gone one better after the already superb The Scythe And Cosmic Chaos, but they have taught me better. However, they now also set the bar very high for the next album. But now the time has come to appreciate this fantastic album accordingly. Only one thing remains for me, namely to award the highest score.

Rating: 10 out of 10 ziqqurats

Review by Michael on September 23, 2023.

With Seven Crowns And Seven Seals the German Lovecraft worshippers release their fourth (and at least by me long-awaited) album. If the guys from the Ruhr area, who have grown to a quintet since 2018, have looked more and more in the direction of black metal on their last albums in addition to gloomy death metal, these influences have been significantly reduced on Seven Crowns And Seven Seals in favor of more classic metal influences and a very appealing atmosphere to spread.

The band starts with a very spherical and melancholic intro ('Sombre Tidings') before they mercilessly let the hammer strike with their first real song 'Hammer From The Howling Void'. At least for the first forty seconds, because from then on very atmospheric and thoughtful passages, which come across very melodic, creep into the song again and again. And that's exactly what runs as a red thread through the album, this atmosphere, which was in it already here and there on the previous albums, but not as superficial as on Sulphur Aeon 2023. If you don't want to wait so long for this atmosphere, but experience it directly, you should listen to the beginning of 'Usurper Of The Earth And Sea' - here you immediately get an oppressive feeling through the acoustic guitar and the whispered words and shortly after that the Lovecraftian inferno begins, what you are used to from Sulphur Aeon. Monolithic riffs, relentless growls and pounding drums that herald the end of the world. But as everywhere on the album not only dark storms and the end of the world prevail, not everywhere in between the sun shines again through misty wispy clouds and donates some comfort.

In the title track the band collaborates with Laurent from Chapel Of Disease as well as Michael Zech (Secrets Of The Moon), whereby a truly epic death metal song has come out, which is difficult to put into words. The song begins very majestic-dragging, so it turns in the course of the almost nine minutes in an all-consuming maelstrom of Lovecraftian madness. Shimmering guitars whisper around the ears of the listener and the clear vocals of M whisper warmly sung words to drag the listener even further into the vastness of madness. Alone these clear vocals is another, although not entirely new, feature that the incredible span of the music of Sulphur Aeon again expanded by a considerable way and makes it much more accessible than it was the case before. And for the crowning conclusion Sulphur Aeon summoned a few Mesopotamian gods 'Beneath The Ziqqurat'. Here the band shows once again all their skills and ignites a real death metal firework and so intense that you can definitely get goosebumps listening to one or the other part.

It is truly difficult for me to put this monster of an album into the right words, but it is certain that Sulphur Aeon have surpassed themselves with Seven Crowns And Seven Seals. I would not have thought that they could have gone one better after the already superb The Scythe And Cosmic Chaos, but they have taught me better. However, they now also set the bar very high for the next album. But now the time has come to appreciate this fantastic album accordingly. Only one thing remains for me, namely to award the highest score.

Rating: 10 out of 10 ziqqurats