I remember really digging on NECROT’s sophomore full-length, Mortal, maybe partly because it was released in the throes of the pandemic, when the world was in literal spastic convulsions. Songs like ‘Stench Of Decay’ and ‘Malevolent Intentions’ were cut to the chase, no frills death demons that gave (at least these ears) an escape from the political haranguing and media talking heads.

Lifeless Birth’s opener, ‘Cut The Cord’ slices and dices with exactly none of the precision of, say, CARCASS, but more a rusty cleaver hacking away, chunks of gore a’ flying into the speed-driven title track. Less chord-driven, just bludgeon after bludgeon, barely allowing space for breath, while ‘Superior’ holds a good bit of thrash riffing within its straining, contorting mass. Somebody in this band’s really into the Bay Area scene once the more roughened Germanic influence of KREATOR, SODOM and the like started seeping in, I’m betting.

Swaggering in, swinging a couple cue balls of riff inside a rhythm sock, ‘Drill The Skull’ is the perfect centerpiece for this smorgasbord of disgust, singularly annihilating anything SFU’s done yet when it comes to slamming a groove up against real death metal. Listen to that bridge from 3:44-4:35, and you’ll see that – while the trio could get all technical if it wanted – it’s way more fuckin’ fun to simply level everything. This might be my favorite death metal song of the year thus far.

Tornadic in its fury, ‘Winds Of Hell’ leads into the BOLT THROWER worship of ‘Dead Memories’, and crashes headlong into finale, ‘The Curse’. Wisely saving this 8+ minute rollercoaster ‘til the end, NECROT again proves themselves capable of stretching things out when they want, or the song calls for it yet keeping the attention from wandering. How could you wander anyway, with your brain stem disengaging from your spinal cord from all the headbanging?

Lifeless Birth is proof that old school death metal still has some life left if NECROT and that vile being spewing the dead and dying out of its face-vagina on the cover have anything to do with it.
Review By: Lord Randall

NECROT
Lifeless Birth
Tankcrimes