Album Review: Death Courier - "Necrotic Verses" 8/10 (Death/Doom)

Death Courier
Necrotic Versus
Death/Doom
Greece
June 5th, 2020
via Transcending Obscurity Records
8/10

A surprising re-entry album from a legacy Greek band, this is their first major release since 2013 and their first one on Transcending Obscurity. Since the 80s Death Courier have undergone several lineup changes and lengthy breaks but the creative force of Billy Soulas drives on unimpeded with this fantastic death record. You can always tell when an album is made by people who have been playing a specific genre for a long time, it has those old school vibes without trying too hard, a bit of that Cannibal Corpse Bloodthirst hammering. Less trendy and more authentic in sound.

They haven’t done anything super new here but they have arranged it well and played it well, slap on decent production with the presentation and you have the standard Transcending Obscurity Records albums. How can anyone who likes death metal not enjoy this? Where other than originality can I critique? I suppose as much as I like the album art it is very much a popular thing right now, returning to that crypt vibe which proved popular in the 90s with Seagrave art, the color pallette matching the logo is very nice though. Necrotic Verses feels like a timeless album that follows metal passion and actually has some neat ideas. At its worst you just zone out a bit, if that starts to happen then turn the volume up mother fucker, you can’t sleep during death metal time. Which is 3pm.

It’s a record that manages to still throw plenty of punches late in the game. The second to last track, “Visceral”, provided much respite by introducing new stimulus and effective tremolo picking. It’s way more active and mobile than the tremolo you hear in black metal, it’s a welcome sound that reminds me of some really good melodic death. “As Heaven Blends With Rot” has a brilliant bass line open the track which blends into the start of the guitar riff nicely. This is a high quality album with well positioned elements.

Death Courier: Bandcamp / Spotify

For the first time in a long time I enjoyed an interlude, they did it well. It was a piece of music still and it served its purpose of building tension towards an epic moment. It feels completely in line with both sides of the album. The guitarwork that keeps peaking with high notes is super valuable in an otherwise entirely harsh brutal terrain. The only melody comes from there as the rhythm and vocalist just don’t let up.

It’s a well presented and decent sounding album out on Transcending Obscurity Records and I’m reviewing it, so you can’t go wrong. Exceptional stuff as always. Death Courier overal is much much closer to death metal than doom metal, it’s more of a doom sheen or production.

8/10