Metalcatto
Necrogore arrives on our doorstep bearing one undeniably edgy album title: Ectoplasmic Rape Phenomena. If you happen to be a committed materialist like me (and yes, this is my genuine epistemological position), then this name reads as utterly ridiculous, hilarious nonsense. If you’re a normal, well-adjusted adult, your eyes probably rolled hard into the back of your skull at first glance. But I’m here to answer a more important question: does the album deliver something as heinously depraved and unhinged as its title promises? Let’s keep our fingers crossed and find out.
Well, the answer is both yes and no. I was rather surprised to discover how fundamentally Swedish Ectoplasmic sounds in its overall form and execution. Sure, it carries that signature savagery typical of Italian extreme Metal, but the actual riffs and vibes align more closely with bands like Crawl or Feral than with the technical brutality of Hideous Divinity. Those guitars roar like proper, vintage chainsaws, and nothing contained within these tracks is designed to make you feel cozy or safe. This is the usual, time-honored formula: “I blast your ears out of existence with my primitive ape noises” kind of Metal. At the very least, the production is handled with some taste and clarity amidst the chaos.
Don’t come expecting complicated, Proggy structures, even if this isn’t a direct, note-for-note Entombed bootleg copy. That dirty, gas station bathroom atmosphere is still very much present and accounted for. With this assessment, I’m not suggesting you can casually play through this album by ear in a single relaxed sitting. You still need to be built like an old-school Death Metal drummer—all endurance and blunt force—to fully survive this Grind-infused take on the classic Swedish formula. Yes! That’s the perfect descriptor: just imagine modern Grindcore violently colliding with ancient, primal Death Metal, and you’ll have a solid mental picture of the kind of audio massacre you’re in for.
Yet, we have undeniably been here before, many times over. As tight as the musicianship is (tighter than your merch budget, I certainly hope), there are a lot of common touchstones and familiar signposts that those who have long inhabited this rotten world will recognize instantly. It’s crusty, it’s chaotic, and it courts mayhem at every turn, but you could theoretically serve up an album like this every single day and still feel perfectly fine about it. As always, the primary risk is numbing your victims with such an indiscriminate assault. Although I personally didn’t fully succumb to that numbness—thanks in large part to the merciful brevity of the tracks—it was admittedly a close call at certain moments.
Ultimately, Necrogore offers exactly what you’d expect from a band operating in this specific, unpretentious vein. The complete lack of surprises does not imply poor execution or trashy, unlistenable production values. On the contrary, this album remains fiercely loyal to a particular school of thought that argues: if it isn’t broken, and if we can get totally wasted while listening to it, then don’t you dare try to fix it—and I mean don’t you ever dare touch that winning formula again. Now, return to the coal mine immediately, before the boss catches you slacking off again.
Label: Awakening Records
Release date: March 20, 2026
Website: https://www.facebook.com/NecrogoreDeath/
Country: Italy
Score: 3.0/5.0
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