Necrodemon - Ice Fields of Hyperion Review artwork

Rating: 7.2

Country: USA

Release Date: 2005

Track list:
1. The Abominable [mp3]
2. Terror in the Arctic
3. Funeral in the Snow
4. The Deep Freeze
5. Avalanche!
6. Frozen Sorcerer - Chant of Making V
7. Mesopotamia - Warriors of Ice
8. Empire of Winter
9. Benumbed Suffering [mp3]
10. So Cold, so Evil
11. Hordes of Hyperion

Band Website: Necrodemon

Necrodemon - Ice Fields of Hyperion

Rob Elliott - Guitars, Vocals
Jeremy Montgomery - Bass
Chuck Feldman - Drums

With this album in hand it would be easy to prematurely assume that Necrodemon equals icy Nordic black metal. However, the amusing poses of the band members imply that fun is (intentionally) on the agenda. Ice Fields of Hyperion is a long, no-fuss thrashing death metal album leaning heavily towards the classic old school. While the overall mix of sounds is crisp and well-defined, the biting snare, low end harmonised chugging chords and layered guitars add great depth to the music. "Avalanche!" and "Empire of Winter" have driving Bolt Thrower motifs that illustrate this, the former's introduction sounding uncannily like "Cenotaph" and the latter's central riff being a classy doom-laden groovecrusher (albeit augmented by no fewer than six quality guitar leads). Additionally, the intro/outro of "Benumbed Suffering" has a scent of old Loudblast fused with the Bolt Thrower juggernaut.

Although this is a far cry from being labelled as blackened death, there are black metal elements weaved into the riff matrix. Rob Elliott employs a variety of charismatic vocal styles (including an almost comical high-pitched Macabre grisly yell), typically well-matched with the riffs, but his malevolent Attila Csihar moans bring out the darkened blasting moments, e.g. during "Avalanche!". The unfussy but very punchy percussion reminds strongly of the drum performance on Enslaved's Eld both in terms of delivery (particularly the rapid tom fills) and sound.

"Mesopotamia" mixes up the styles with middle eastern harmonisation, Slayer-tinged Celtic Frost and then an Incantation meets Vader blasting riff. "So Cold, so Evil" has a mood of inevitability and impending doom to it and would have been a better choice as album closer instead of "Hordes of Hyperion", itself one of the least inspired tracks.

At worst this is solid and unspectacular but it is not often that bands reworking old formulae create so much contagious energy and enjoyment whilst forming an identity. Necrodemon can write addictive and distinct songs with the minimum of complexity, a skill which bodes well for their future. Incidentally, this is without a doubt the finest release available to date from the Open Grave catalogue.

January 26th, 2007