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I had only heard one song by this band before, off their "Threshold of the Usurper" debut, so I was surprised when I got ahold of this. "Necronemesis" is the third CD from these Chicago-boys, and it makes me proud to be American.

You basically need to know two words to get an idea what Usurper sound like: Celtic Frost. Seriously, they sound so much like "To Mega-Therion"-era CF you expect them to break into "Circle of the Tyrants" in mid-song. I am not saying this is a bad thing at all, as no other bands are really doing this kind of stuff anymore. This is really cool shit, with ultra-heavy brass-knuckled riffs spilling out all over and frontman General Diabolical Slaughter growling like a reincarnated Tom G Warrior. Usurper throw in some blastbeat-and-screaming parts, seemingly just for the Hell of it, and these bits are not as cool as the other stuff, but they’re not bad. Usurper are at their best when they’re laying down the heavy shit, as on "Incubus Breed", "Deathwish" or the megaheavy stomp of "Into the Oblong Box". Even Celtic Frost never sounded this crunchy and barbaric. There are no throwaway or filler cuts on here at all, and the whole CD is just a feast for those who crave METAL! There’s even guest vocals from King Diamond on the title track. How cool can you get?

I have the Earache reissue of this album, and the cover is very cool. Band pics show us a bunch of leather and spikes-wearing dudes. And the lyrics are pretty cool. My only possible gripe is that the last track, "Tales of the Macabre" is only 4 minutes long or so, but the track itself has about 25:00 of silence after it with about 4 minutes of inane chanting at the very end. A highly annoying space waster. (A good reason to get the vinyl edition – Ed. ;))

This is hella cool, and I’m going to get ahold of their latest CD "Twilight Dominion" as soon as I can. Any fan of real, old-fashioned heavy fucking metal will get off on this, as "Necronemesis" just rules.

Additional Information

Originally released by Necropolis Records in 2000