For the first time on vinyl, the fifth full-length album from cult German Thrash Metal band Necronomicon receives a 2024 remaster on limited edition colored vinyl. This exclusive edition features striking renewed artwork, soft-touch lamination, and an embossed logo for a premium feel. It also includes a printed inner sleeve with fully restored lyrics, presented in their original form for the first time. Total Metal Records, Ukraine. 2024 (TMR037-190/LP). First press.
Often dismissed as a "poor man's Destruction," Necronomicon proved their worth, especially with 1988's Escalation. While comparisons to Destruction are inevitable—Volker’s vocals still carry that signature, grating pinch reminiscent of Schmier—the riffs on Construction of Evil have fully come into their own. The album flows with tight, relentless energy, delivering standout tracks like "Stormbringer," "Paralizer," "Bone Daddy," and "Hard Pain," each loaded with soaring guitars, intricate leads, and biting, visceral vocals.
The record stays true to the band’s early formula of aggressive vocal shouts intertwined with melodic riffing, but with significantly cleaner production and subtle nods to mid-to-late 90s German Power Metal acts like Paragon and Iron Savior. The lead guitar work, in particular, has a unique character that sets it apart from the rawer sound of previous albums. Technically, the mix is superb: instruments are perfectly balanced, and the vocals dominate without overpowering the guitars’ punch.
Necronomicon’s mastery of gang vocals is equally impressive—on tracks like “Fiction” and “Paralizer,” the interplay of lead and chorus is more bombastic than Anthrax or Overkill, while remaining just aggressive enough to stand out from the typical German Power Metal sound.
Stylistically, the album balances high-speed thrash with occasional slower numbers and token half-ballads. "Alight" and "Hills of Dead" showcase early German pre-Thrash influences and NWOBHM elements. “Terrorist Attack” evokes Accept, complete with a moody piano line—an unusual touch for a straight Thrash outfit. “Fireball” combines somber acoustic lines with power-chord riffing, striking a middle ground between Anthrax and Bad Religion; it’s both catchy and melodically vocal, yet still punctuated with bursts of speed.
Fans of old-school Thrash, early US Power Metal, and early German Speed Metal will find plenty to enjoy here. Note, however, that Freddy Fredrich’s gravelly vocals are closer to Kreator and Destruction’s semi-melodic shouts than to the cleaner, melodic style of Rolf Kasparek or Udo Dirkschneider. For devotees of German Thrash Metal, though, Construction of Evil easily outshines much of what the scene produced in the first decade of the 2000s.
