Since their creation, NECROWRETCH have proudly carried the mark of the beast. A decade ago, these devil worshippers emerged alongside the old school death metal revival. But their new album casts the French band in a bigger, blacker and more Satanic mold.
“Any move toward what’s considered true black metal is a good thing and Necrowretch stride with furious momentum in that particular direction”, writes Black Metal Terror. “These are the fabled days of world end and I can think of no finer record to track the sound of it all than Swords of Dajjal”.
Swords of Dajjal is out now. To celebrate the mass fanfare that has greeted their latest offering, today, Necrowretch are releasing a new video for one of the album’s deeper cuts.
Watch the raw and ruthless video for “Vae Victis”:
Order: https://redirect.season-of-mist.com/NecrowretchSwords
Stream: https://orcd.co/necrowretchswordsofdajjal
While forged with newfound mysticism, Swords of Dajjal was drawn from real life experience. Living in Turkey during the tail end of the last decade inspired Necrowretch’s lead swordsmith Vlad to create their new album in the splitting image of the Antichrist. Each song warns of a harrowing prophecy brought down by Dajjal, who reigns fire over “Vae Victis”.
“Woe to the vanquish!” snaps Vlad, brandishing his pale but bloodied fangs.
Indeed, “Vae Victis” is pure savagery. The blast beats waste no time, galloping ahead like the horsemen of the apocalypse through a sandstorm. But Necrowretch can slice and dice from all angles. Walls of trembling, melodic distortion close in, only for the band to sneak up and crush you with a headbanging riff that swings with all the brute force of a scepter.
“Malheur aux vaincus!” Vlad says in greetings of his band’s new single. “History testifies that only the strongest survive and that prophetic wisdom still continues in the world we are living in. ‘Vae Victis’ is based the story upon the sack of Rome in 390 BC, where the Gauls defeated the Romans and imposed their conditions on the vanquished. In torment and disgrace, only the ruthless man, the survivor, can become a king. In chaos and torment, only the lawless man, the compeller, can become the bestower of Life and Death”.
The video for “Vae Victis” was filmed in Paris. It was edited and directed by Mounir Chraibi.
Praise for Necrowretch and Swords of Dajjal
“At times darkly oppressive and threatening, at others brutally crushing, it is a great record” – Angry Metal Guy 4/5
“A rare union of conception and achievement” – No Clean Singing.
“The vocals are both theatric and hard-hitting. The drumming is insane. A great mix between tremolo riffs and chugs”. – Thralls of Metal (4.5 stars)
“A banger of a release…expertly straddles along the lines of black and death metal” – The Metal Pit (9/10)
“Turns out they’re not actually your regular blackened death band after all, but something even more sinister” – Metal Storm
“Dynamic blackened death metal…embraces melody and blends it with pure savagery” – Teeth of the Divine
“A raw, primitive and relentless sound with absolutely manical percussion and possessed singer Vlad’s beastial screams” – Kerrang!
“They charge blastbeats and hurl guitars and the kitchen sink at listeners, and that is almost always certain to attract fans of kvtl metal” – Echoes and Dust
“Speedy, razor-sharp display of blackened death metal mayhem that is as entertaining on a tenth listen as it is on the first” – Heavy Blog is Heavy
“Filled with enough hate, putrefaction and sorrow to fill a deep inferno of black, deathly abyss” – V13
“They approach their ghoulish task with considerably more gusto (and know-how) than many of their peers” – Pitchfork
Track-list
1. Ksar Al-Kufar (4:22)
2. The Fifth Door (5:30)
3. Dii Mauri (5:07)
4. Swords of Dajjal (4:56)
5. Numidian Knowledge (4:12)
6. Vae Victis (4:18)
7. Daeva (2:49)
8. Total Obliteration (6:13)Total runtime:37:27
Style: Death/black metal
FFO: Possessed, Dark Angel, Dissection, Necrophobic, Merciless
Lineup
Vlad – Vocals, Guitars
W. Cadaver – Lead Guitars
R. Cadaver (Live) – Bass
N. Destroyer – Drums
Recording Studio
Studio Sainte Marthe, Paris
Sound, Mixing & Mastering Engineer
Francis Caste
Cover Art
Stefan Thanneur / Manifeste
Links:
Official Website: https://necrowretch.net/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Necrowretch
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/necrowretch
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/intl-fr/artist/0cIx910hgtpgvicBJv3ybq
Bandcamp: https://necrowretch.bandcamp.com/