REVIEW NEKRARCHON "GEHINNAM"

Today I would like to present an album that, in my opinion, has unfortunately never received the attention it deserves. We are talking about the only album of the Greek black metal band Nekrarchon. Out of nowhere in 2014 the debut album "Gehinnam" was released by the German label FDA Records, which specializes in old-school death metal, and unusually there was no previous demo, no EP, no split release. Maybe part of the disregard was due to the label, don't get me wrong, FDA Records is an absolutely great label that has only good to top releases across the board, yet black metal in particular is not something you associate directly with this label. But be that as it may, the album named after a ravine near the biblical Judah, in which child sacrifices were made to the god Moloch, is a hidden gem to be discovered. Somewhere in the intersection between old, non-raging black metal and death metal (primarily the vocals), the album knows how to convince both traditionalists and listeners who appreciate innovations. Nekrarchon have rather less in common with the traditional Greek sound as celebrated by Rotting Christ, Necromantia or Varathron. Rather, you can imagine the whole thing as an atmospheric mixture of old Aeternus, midtempo black metal, already a shot of the Greek mystical sound and partly even newer Behemoth, the latter well audible in the track "Eucharist". Last but not least, the band, which perfectly succeeds in building and maintaining a consistently dark, ominous atmosphere over the distance of the album, strives to add dynamics and variability to their sound through elements such as partly dissonant guitars, tribal drum parts or echoing monk choruses. Especially many parts seem almost hypnotic through repetitions.

The band is still listed as active in Metal Archives, but the last entry on the Facebook presence is from 2017, so I strongly assume that the band no longer exists. It's a pity, because there could have been some exciting things to come. The CD as well as the LP are still available via Bandcamp of the band as well as via the label FDA Records.