𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…
August 6 2013 — Exhumed released their sixth studio album, Necrocracy via Relapse Records, although it was previously released in Germany on August 2, and worldwide on August 5, 2013. (Apple Music or Spotify)
A music video was released for the lead single, Coins upon the Eyes (Watch video). The album was described by frontman Matt Harvey as slower, more melodic, and darker than the band's other albums. The only album to feature bassist Rob Babcock, the first to feature drummer Mike Hamilton and the return of Bud Burke who now switched to guitar as opposed to bass on Slaughtercult and Anatomy is Destiny.
Background:
The writing for several of the songs on Necrocacy began during the preceding All Guts, No Glory session. Harvey indicated that the tempo variation heard on Necrocacy was a conscious decision that emerged while playing shows in support of All Guts, No Glory: "𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛, 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚛 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚏𝚏, 𝚜𝚘 𝙸 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝙽𝚎𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚢."
Relative to its previous recording sessions, Harvey describes Exhumed as "𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛-𝚛𝚎𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚍" going into the studio. As a result, "𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍, 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚜, 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚏𝚏, 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚑. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚘𝚕 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝙼𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚍." The pacing of the album also gave Exhumed additional opportunities to explore its sound in the studio, according to Harvey:
"𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚏𝚏 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗. 𝚆𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚏𝚏 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚘, 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚢𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜𝚊𝚕 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖, 𝚜𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚏𝚞𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚙 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚜."
With “Necrocracy”, Matt Harvey wrote lyrics that applied gore aesthetics to politics. He noted that the "𝚙𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜" of the album were due to the fact that "𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙿𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚊𝚕 𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚢𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚜."
Despite the political theme, Harvey continued his exploration of gore;
“𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚙𝚑𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚏𝚏, 𝚜𝚘 𝚒𝚝‘𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝙳𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖 𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚙𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚎 𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚜. 𝙸𝚝‘𝚜 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚒-𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎, anti-consumerism, that kind of stuff. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚖 𝚒𝚗 𝙰𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚊 𝚒𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚞𝚙𝚝 𝚙𝚑𝚊𝚜𝚎, 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚗-𝚎𝚛𝚊 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝟷𝟾𝟶𝟶𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝟷𝟿𝟶𝟶𝚜 – 𝚒𝚝‘𝚜 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚘𝚖 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚡𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚔, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚙𝚕𝚢, 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚒𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚘𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝚏𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚃𝚅. 𝙷𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚎‘𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝟸𝟶𝚝𝚑 𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚢 𝚕𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚋𝚊𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚕𝚝𝚛𝚊-𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚕𝚝𝚛𝚊-𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛. 𝚂𝚘 𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝙸 𝚝𝚘𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚗 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚏𝚏, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚋𝚢 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚞𝚝𝚜!”
Critical Reception:
Neil Pretorius of About.com said; “
”...𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛, groovier and much more melodically inclined approach of Necrocacy provided for a more mature and accessible sound that puts it on par with Carcass's Surgical Steel as one of the best Death/Goregrind releases of the year.“
Praising the album's mixture of "𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚏𝚊𝚗𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚢" and "𝚌𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕, 𝙷𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔-𝚎𝚜𝚚𝚞𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗", David Perri of Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles (Bravewords.com) said, "𝙴𝚡𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚡𝚎𝚌𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚎 𝚊𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝟷 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝟸𝟶𝟷𝟹".
Neil Arnold of Metal Forces expressed the opinion that with Necrocacy, "𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙲𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚊𝚗 𝚙𝚜𝚢𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝙲𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝚊𝚜 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚏𝚒𝚎𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚠𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚙 𝚐𝚘𝚛𝚎".
However, the album did receive some criticism. Joe DeVita of Loudwire conceded that "𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚐𝚗𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐", but ultimately concluded that Necrocacy is "𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎".
Note: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells
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