UMUR "Darkside" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Swedish black/death metal act Necrophobic. The album was released through Black Mark Productions in March 1997. Necrophobic´s debut full-length studio album "The Nocturnal Silence (1993)" was one of the genre defining blackened death metal albums of the early nineties, but on "Darkside" they take a slightly different direction.

The old school Swedish death metal elements are now only secondary to the melodic black metal ditto. References can still be made to artists like Unanimated and Dissection. Especially the latter is a rather obvious influence. Necrophobic are not clones by any means though, and "Darkside" is overall a very entertaining release. The snarling aggressive vocals, the very skillfully played melodic leads and the tight rythm section are only half the story. It´s the memorable songwriting and catchy delivery of the tracks that push "Darkside" from great to excellent. Especially the first half of the album features some really great tracks. "Black Moon Rising", "Spawned by Evil", "Bloodthirst" and "Darkside" are simply stunning melodic black metal tracks. The quality is slightly less outstanding from there on out, but the rest of the album is great material too. The inclusion of two shorter instrumental interludes are great for the variation and also work as little breathers on an otherwise relentlessly aggressive and busy album. The lyrics are as blasphemous/satanic in nature as the case was on the debut album.

I think it´s really interesting how much Necrophobic have developed their sound since "The Nocturnal Silence (1993)". Of course in the intermediate years the popularity of death metal had waned and in 1997 black metal was the triumphant extreme metal style, and I guess Necrophobic made a wise choice to follow a more black metal oriented style than to stick with their death metal roots. Whatever motive lay behind the decision, "Darkside" is a very strong release fully deserving a 4 - 4.5 star (85%) rating. Melodic Swedish black metal at it´s best!

Primeval Scum Captures the cold & evil atmosphere of Dissection but with a harsher sound and a more straightforward mentality.

There are none of the drawn-out epics or complex song structures you will find on Storm of the Light's Bane, because Darkside is designed as a quick burst of aggressive melodic black/death excellence. There are no weak points on this album. Each and every song is compact yet strikes the perfect balance between the evil grimness of black metal, the ferocity of old school dm, and the catchiness of melodeath.

Some of my favorite moments: The melodic acoustic passage and subsequent scream on "Black Moon Rising", the intro to "Darkside" (SATAN TAKE MY SOOOUUUL!), the frantic furiosity of "Nailing the Holy One", the verses of "Bloodthirst" that always make me bob my head, and finally, the gorgeous piano interludes.

Highly recommended for fans of Dissection, Swedish old school melodeath and meloblack. For fans of atmospheric and headbanging metal alike. Hell, any real metalhead should enjoy this masterpiece!