Have you been watching the new Lord of the Rings series, Rings of Power? Any fellow hobbit-heads out there will have noticed the incredibly breathtaking scenery. The snowy mountain ranges and awe-inspiring landscapes of New Zealand are on full display, in full HD glory. Who would have thought such guttural, ugly music like Vicissitude could come from such a beautiful country?
Vicissitude’s Neolithic Necrocannibals is a sludgy, heavy assault on the ears, and I was into it. It fluctuates between a kind of black-thrash to a slow-groove death metal act. Fans of ‘pure cvlt’ black metal shouldn’t shy away though. This isn’t tech death or anything too polished.
Vicissitude show their black metal love throughout. The production is good and meaty, but not too slick. It still sounds like an actual band swathing through the mud and bones. The vocals are a mix of lower than low and black metal pitchy growls. The drum thumps and nice and loud, and the guitar riffage pushes the whole thing along well. The tracks are numbered ‘NN I’, ‘NN II’ and so on, and the logo is nearly indecipherable. These are all staple black metal traits which made me want to revisit this album after listening a couple of times to review.
I think the strength of Neolithic Necrocannibals is in its slower, sludgier moments. It has a “mosh slowly while very drunk” feel, and I love it. NN III had a particularly great groove, which ended in feedback and led into the blasty onslaught of the intro to NN IV, while NN VI slows riiiiiiiight down at one point, punching you in the gut with its drums and chord stabs.
This is raw, but not so raw that it sounds like it was recorded through a toilet door. It’s a great listen. New Zealand already graced us with the amazing Stälker, and now we can safely add Vicissitude to the list of killer, blackened bands from the Long White Cloud. Saying that, once Vicissitude are done with the cloud, it might not be so white anymore.
Review by Ben @ Rassilon Records
Stream & Pre Order now!