AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): TORREFY — “NECRONOMISONGS”

Beginning in late June of this year we began our own gradual march toward the release of Torrefy‘s new album Necronomisongs. At that point we premiered a startling song from the album named “Enslaved New World” (inspired by the Death Gate Cycle fantasy series), and also reprised a previously released single (equally startling) called “Of Wind and Worm” (inspired by Frank Herbert’s Dune). And then in August we brought you the premiere stream of “Street Reaper” (inspired by Stephen King’s Christine).

And now we’re at the end of our march. Necronomisongs will be released tomorrow (September 27th) on the Germany-based Witches Brew label, and today we’re happily sharing a full stream of all the songs.

photo by John Clarke

The shortest genre description you might see for the music on Necronomisongs is “Unorthodox Black Thrash”, but that begs the question doesn’t it? What makes it unorthodox? In attempting to unpack that we’ve scattered words and phrases such as these in our previous writings:

“demented”, “devilish”, “fast and frenzied”, “brazen and baroque”, “technically pyrotechnic” yet “with an unmistakable sharpness in the execution”, “barbarous and yet fiendishly elegant”, “viscerally propulsive but also head-spinning”, an “ever-spinning gyroscope of sound”… but also

“distressing”, “grievous”, “sinister, and even bleak”…

And of course, as you might have already guessed, the songs are all lyrically based on a favorite book of Torrefy vocalist John Ferguson, the kinds of books likely to appeal to fans of fantasy, sci-fi, and horror. His love for the books certainly seems authentic: it drives through in the intensity of his roars, snarls, and screams as he possesses the roles of various unearthly terrors.

But the unorthodoxy of Torrefy‘s music extends beyond their exceptional technical skill and seemingly unhinged songwriting. That already takes it beyond the boundaries of meat-and-potatoes thrash, of even the more charred and demonic varieties, but the music is also unusual in how elaborate it is, and how multifaceted in its intertwining of musical genres.

photo by John Clarke

While Torrefy are certainly capable of racing like mad hell machines, and thrashing up a mosh pit, they rarely stay in the same speed zone throughout any one song. And not only do they constantly switch up the tempos, they also constantly switch up the monstrous timbre of the vocals, sometimes doubling them to create hellish choirs.

But most notable of all is the way they create changing tapestries of sound, drawing upon various metal traditions as well as classical and progressive musical traditions — the word “elegant” comes to mind more than once, and most definitely in the thoroughly head-spinning fourth track “Arachnomancer”, which also features one of the most spectacular guitar solos on an album filled with them.

But really, all the songs are head-spinners, exultant in their intricacy and frequently jaw-dropping in the acrobatics of the instrumentation. And that makes the moments in which they pull back and create sweeping and even dreamlike visions (which they do, for example, in “Nature vs Torture”) equally startling.

Last but not least, it’s worth re-emphasizing that Torrefy switch up the songs’ moods as often as they do all their other ingredients, which is again something you rarely find in more conventional black thrash. To again point to only one example, “Apex Shredatorr” sounds like a channel for heart-break and anguish as much as free-wheeling ecstasy and glorious delirium, and the majestic but also wild closing track “Total Perspective Vortex” does something similar.

Well, enough with all the words. Now we’ll let you figure out all this for yourselves:

TORREFY is:
John Ferguson – Vocals
Dan Laughy – Drums
Adam Henry – Guitar
Ben Gerencser – Guitar
Simon Smith – Bass

Necronomisongs includes 8 songs and 45 minutes of music, and it’s available on CD and digital formats. It was recorded by Torrefy and Cody Baresich at Circle A studios in Victoria BC. It was mixed by Cody Baresich and mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege. The attention-seizing cover art was made by Blackstory. The album comes recommended for fans of Vektor, Absu, Skeletonwitch, and Immortal.

BUY/STREAM:
https://witchesbrewthrashes.bandcamp.com/album/necronomisongs
https://torrefy.bandcamp.com/album/necronomisongs-3
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5vBG6mPXUQGf6UsFX1qXWI

FOLLOW:
https://www.facebook.com/Torrefy
https://www.instagram.com/torrefy/