Year: 2022
Label: Osmose Productions
Rating: 9,3/10
The Kharkiv band NECROM was destined to achieve success in a sense, since from the very beginning a lot of big names participated in it. Even a list of people that left the band after its first EP is amazing: it's Roman Saenko, Kanstancin Zmiaieuski and Arthur Revyakin (DUB BUK, BURSHTYN, UNGERN). But those who left in the line-up aren't simple people as well: Varggoth and Artur Meburnutov (one of the first Death Metal musicians in Ukraine) are responsible for guitars, Andrey Verevkin (ELDERBLOOD) is a singing bassist, and Lev Kurgansky, one of the most active drummers on the local stage, plays drums - obviously.
In three years, NECROM's music has grown significantly in every sense, and now the debut EP, which looked excellent at its time, sounds like a demo compared to the album. This is especially easy to notice if you take into account the fact that all the songs from the EP were re-recorded for the full-length. Sound, performance, arrangements - everything has a new level of quality. But no technical parameters will save music if there is no zeal in it. Fortunately, everything is incredibly good in this regard, especially considering that people who wrote this music are quite old. Obviously, there is a favorable combination of circumstances here: both Varggoth and mr. Meburnutov had not played pure Death Metal for a thousand years, and therefore they did it now with great enthusiasm. This is immediately felt at least against the background NOKTURNAL MORTUM's "Verity" – a fantastically professional, refined work, but too restrained in emotional terms. On "All Paths Are Left Here ..." it turned out differently: this is the fruit of the work of musicians with not only skillful hands, but also burning hearts.
The album is based primarily on Swedish Death Metal a-la early ENTOMBED, CARNAGE, DISMEMBER. Happily, there isn't much from boring BOLT THROWER who for some reason are very much loved in Kharkiv. Guitars purr characteristically, the vocalist angrily growls-shouts, the drums are either engaged in grinding of sound granite, or start a crazy gallop. From a purely creative point of view, the quality of music is the highest. Let me explain: in general, I am a big fan of Death Metal of this kind, having listened to hundreds of similar albums in my life. And, quite naturally, at a certain point I gorged myself on this style, because even very strong albums in it can rarely offer something that has not been played about two hundred times before. "All Paths Are Left Here ..." also doesn't have any fresh ideas, but every little thing in it is done so wonderfully that it is simply impossible to break away from the music. Every transition happens quite naturally, every chord hits the bullseye, every riff is in its place. Rare keyboard parts create a truly powerful impression.
Finally, this is a very rare, if not the only case in my memory, when an album based on Lovecraft's work does not lose that very characteristic atmosphere, even despite the presence of many fast sections, melodic segments and emotional outbursts. It is known that the spirit of the great writer appears only over the most gloomy and alienated albums like the works of THERGOTHON or KRAKEN DUUMVIRATE, but the Ukrainian deathsters managed to honor Mr. Lovecraft in a worthy way. Separately, I would like to note the beautiful album cover by the modest Russian artist Alexander Tartsus, who this time worked more in the style of Dan Seagrave than in his own.
What's here to say... Glory to NECROM! I haven't heard such a strong Death Metal album for a very long time, and I can only hope that this is not the last work of the band. The main thing now is not to lose the enthusiasm.
English (UK) 
Крыўская