Goreaphobia was formed in 1988 in Philadelphia, making them among the earliest Death Metal bands from Pennsylvania along with Incantation, but unlike them, Goreaphobia managed to get a cult status only through years of Demos as they never released a single Full-length till 2009.
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| The album cover slays just as much as the album itself. |
With Apocalyptic Necromancy, Goreaphobia proved that they are among the most consistent bands when it comes to making dark Death Metal with good songwriting. The album has a modern-styled production, but they still maintain an organic and fairly old school sound, which is a good thing. The album's material isn't as powerful as the new songs heard on Vile Beast of Abomination compilation, but more powerful than that heard on Mortal Repulsion. Apocalyptic Necromancy sounds an extension to Mortal Repulsion, so can get boring at times, but as each song brings forth a new and engaging riff, it manages to draw back the attention of the listener. Chris Gamble does a good job on vocals as always. His growls are decipherable, and have a good range, but lack heaviness, but that can be excused because they sound evil enough to go with the sound of the rest of the instruments. Don't expect bowel-churing Chris Reifert screams, but Gamble's vocals are unique in their own way. Alex Bouks does a good job with the riffs. Each one of them written and played well. The band, like always manages to come up with interesting mid-paced riffing in each song with occasional, catchy palm-muted riffs. The bass is crystal clear and audible everywhere, but follows a simple pattern. Even though all it does is add to the heaviness of the already heavy record, it does its job well. The drumming is well done, precise and follows a Thrash Metal pattern than the usual blast-till-no-tomorrow. The snare sound can get a little annoying, though.
Like earlier mentioned, Goreaphobia are masters of the art of creating absolutely sickening and sinister Death Metal in a way that the modern production couldn't take any of its essence away. Chris Gamble's horrifying vocals reciting tales of horror and sickness, combined with Alex Bouks' and VJS's guitar riffs spewing evil through sound waves, and Jim Roe's ritualistic drum pounding definitely make Apocalyptic Necromancy among the better releases of 2011 so far.
2011 has certainly been a great year for Death Metal. Who knows what the coming moths have for us. Till then, enjoy this corpse-infested crypt of an album.
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