Antropomorphia – Evangelivm Necromantia

There are several times that I was asked to do reviews of bands from the same country. And now it is one of these times. I think it is something to do with the weather. How is it possible that several bands from the same country release their albums in the same period? Anyway this is the second full length CD from the Dutch guys of Antropomorphia after a break of 14 years (!).

You can easily tell that these guys come from the Netherlands. For what they play is Dutch death metal and that I can tell unmistakably. In “Evangelivm Necromantia” you can find blastbeats, deep growling vocals and mystical guitar riffs. Still nothing new is discovered from any other death metal release that you find in a CD store. And that is something that made me really disappointed.

The CD starts with an intro track of one and a half minute that tries to introduce us to what is coming next. The atmosphere is dark and magical. From the start it is understandable that this is a result of the orchestration. The guitar riffs and the whole compositions are build to give us this dark aesthetic. Antropomorphia are presenting themselves as black magic worshippers and necromancers through the lyrics and the artwork of this album.

The drumming is full from the start till the very end with double bass kicks. And again we have mid-tempo rhythms that are turning to blastbeats in a blink of an eye. Is there anything more typical for a band that comes from Netherlands?
The vocals are deep growls, again a typical element for a Dutch death metal band. The production is clear enough so you can listen to all the instruments. That is one thing I like about this album. The sound of the bass is distinct and its lines are really good and fill a lot of gaps. The outro track, the same titled song, after all is a solo of the bass player Marc Van Stiphout.

What you find in this CD is a typical death metal album. No more no less. If you are looking for something different you won’t find anything. There are mystical paths in “Evangelivm Necromantia”; there are spells and dark art in this CD. Yet I couldn’t find any original parts. No new and fresh ideas that could make me rate higher. I couldn’t even tell which track is a highlight.