Review by Vladimir on April 9, 2024.

In the world of extreme metal, rarely do I come across anything so terrifying that it just leaves you feeling uncertain and almost confused, but it seems that I have found something of that quality. The example here is the international black/death metal Necropolissebeht, with their debut EP TTCCCLXXX, released on August 8th, 2022 via Nuclear War Now! Productions.

Necropolissebeht’s output is a very unusual and very subterranean blackened death metal, intense and bestial in its nature, that sounds like a demonic growl from the depths of the underworld. Its overall structure consists of your standard aggressive tremolo picking riffs, blast beat drums, harsh vocals and gutturals combined, that create a very disharmonic/discordant and incomprehensible result. The atmosphere of the music is like a distorted and terrifying nightmare, without shape and without form, where only darkness and agony exist, and eldritch horrors lie dormant. Throughout this entire EP, it’s like you are exploring the abyss even deeper where one should not even think to tread, and the deeper you go, even more horrors emerge. The final track 'Θῆβαι' is the only exception for being a dark ambient track without any black or death metal whatsoever, closing this nightmarish ride.

When it comes to the songwriting, there isn’t really much to say since it is all very standard and constantly following the same pattern as it goes. There isn’t really any stand out material on this EP since a lot of it is pretty much going along the same line, and you are just here for this unusual and nightmare filled ride. One can’t deny that its incredibly unintelligible and discorded output does succeed at creating a terrifying and bizarre world in your head, basically if the movie Begotten was presented in a musical form, this would be it. The only downside I have is the sound production, which is so raw, muddy and full of cave-reverb, and while it does manage to create this particular sound that conveys the atmosphere I just described, I simply cannot overlook the fact that it is a bit unpleasant to the ear.

This EP is a real nightmare when it comes to the musical form, and I think that it is pretty much like a deep dive into the abyss where you are sure to become insane once you reach the very bottom. It’s not a pleasant listening, I can guarantee that, but it is quite interesting in the sense that it created this utter horror-filled experience that is borderline noise and yet still it isn’t. If you are really looking for something that is disharmonic and unsettling, this is what you have come for.

Rating: 6.6 out of 10