siLLy puPPy Ever since the metal universe splintered into the more extreme subgenera in the 1980s, each has played a unique role in expanding the universe exponentially while never totally separating so far that many bands didn’t succeed in straddling the tightrope act of playing on both teams. This is especially true of death metal and black metal with countless bands beginning as one and jumping ship to become the other but then there are bands like NECROWRETCH that adopted the juiciest elements of both and crafted their own sound in that limbo zone in between where they purists dare not tread.

This French band from the city of Valence has been cranking out the extreme metal since 2008 beginning as a crusty old school death metal band before blackening things up with its 2013 debut full-length release “Putrid Death Sorcery.” The band achieved its grounding for four albums but something changed after the release of 2020’s “The Ones From Hell” which found the band barred from touring due to the worldwide pandemic that halted many a plan on the live circuit. Affected by the situation as all of us were, NECROWRETCH focused rather on its following album which took a full four years to raise its booty from the cryptic vaults of the underworld.

The result is SWORDS OF DAJJAL, short for Al-Masih ad-Dajjal which refers to the mythological villain of Islamic eschatology who claims to be the messiah, attracts a large number of followers into following his evil agendas and then ultimately meeting his comeuppance in a staggering fall from grace. Noticeably different on SWORDS of DAJJAl is the complete flipping of the death to black metal ratios with the black metal winning out this time. Much like early 90s Dissection though, this is deathened black metal with the blistering riffing rampage of death metal’s technical aspects while focusing on a black metal procession of tremolo-induced adrenaline rushes.

Still brought to you by founding member Vlad Gutsfucker (guitar, vocals, bass), NECROWRETCH and established bassist Wenceslas Carrieu aka W. Cadaver (member since 2018), the band has seen a new exchange of cast members by being joined by two newbies: ex-Cadaveric Fumes bassist Romain Gibet and drummer extraordinaire Nicolas Ferrero aka Bress only taking on the identity of N. Destroyer on this release. The results equate to a collection of exquisitely performed tracks that perfectly overlays the technical prowess of death metal brutality over the songwriting structure of second wave black metal. Add to that, Vlad perfectly skirts that fine line between guttural growls giving away to raspy demonic possession. The band has mastered its sound well and those four years of polishing this gem have indeed yielded a nice modern fusion-fest of deathened black metal run totally amok.

Well paced and frenetically fierce as fuck, NECROWRETCH delivers a vile and repugnant obstreperousness worthy of its wretched namesake. Playing it safe with a merciful 37 1/2 minute run time, SWORDS OF DAJJAL doesn’t overplay its thematic approach by overthinking the subject matter and attempting to craft a behemoth monstrosity that falls from too much of this without enough that but rather delivers an even-keel dose of metallic furor that will please the old school purists yet titillate the modern seekers of crusty extreme metal that doesn’t simply dig up artifacts of the past for its inspiration.

Overall SWORDS OF DAJJAL is a steady yet wild ride of deathened black metal that is uncompromising and offers a sludgy even crust punk sorta grit. Sure it’s impossible to follow any thematic tales of mythology with the gurgled vocals and lack of Arabian folk sounds piercing the din but in the end who cares. This is simply a fun raucous speed-fest performed by seasoned veterans unleashing an evil as fuck bravado that perfectly accompanies a tale of the rise and fall of a charlatan messiah deceiving the masses into crimes against nature and humanity. An interesting subject matter approach and a satisfying delivery with the musical mojo that is required to walk that fine line between the parallel realities of black and death metal.