Arcane Necrosis – S/T CDR
It’s good to have Mike and Profane Productions back in action after a long hiatus, for the mans dedication to underground black metal is admirable and the care he pours into his releases is to be praised. Profane is a CDR only label, but it gives the underground a glimpse into the dark underbelly of the beast and the musical cretins found there suckling at its foul teets. Australia’s Arcane Necrosis 2006 demo sounds Profane’s return. Limited to 150 copies, the packaging features a CD envelope closed by a wax seal, a sticker and a heavy card stock insert along with the black CDR. This is the norm to all the Profane releases… Unique and collectible. A.N. is the work of sole member, Nagoth, who has unleashed 8 tracks (not including intro and outro) of well developed and well produced black metal, full of interesting twists and atmosphere. Drum machine driven, the synthetic rhythm section thankfully doesn’t detract anything away from this material since the way it was recorded gives it a bit of a natural tone. This allows the buzzing and raw, though completely discernable guitar work to be at the forefront of this release, ushering the listener to fall into a deep trance as the dissonance weaves it’s memorable/melodic web. Well-written material makes this release a very worthy conquest and is made even more interesting by Nagoth’s vocal performance. Definitely falling into the traditional black metal aesthetic, his mid-ranged vocals are solid and he takes great care in following the riffs when needed, only to break away into less obvious vocal rhythms for variety. The riff work itself becomes more engaging as this full-length demo progresses. More of a heaviness enters the progressions. Crunching power chord riffs break away into clean guitar segments and even some perplexing tremolo fills that fuel a sense of uneasiness that only benefits this well-written material. Subtle synth lines enter the fray for what is a very dynamic and well-considered release. Too bad this is so limited, for I feel Arcane Necrosis could really make a name for itself with a bigger push behind them. Regardless, this is a worthy addition to your underground black metal collection. – Marty
PROFANE PRODUCTIONS
Worm Gear 