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Epitaph by: Necrophagist

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Publisher: Relapse
Release date: 23rd August, 2004
Media: Audio CD

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Track List

• Stabwound
• Stillborn One
• Ignominious And Pale
• Diminished To Be
• Epitaph
• Only Ash Remains
• Seven
• Symbiotic In Theory

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Average rating - (more reviews)

Rating: - Furious and memorable

This album immediately brings out the air guitarist in me. During its intense 33 minutes it pours out heavy, tasteful and catchy riffs combined with pounding rhythms. The vocals are of the low growling kind, the guitar solos are mostly cleanly played and melodic, and all the musicians seem to know their stuff. I do not think the musicians let their technical abilities detract from the songs, and the album keeps a rocking groove throughout. Recommended!

Rating: - Virtuoso death metal gem

Epitaph is simply brilliant.
I had heard of Necrophagist, but never really given them much of a listen until I was introduced to them via a website that plays free music (Named after a woman who owned a box that contained chaos and hell...) and I was just blown away by `Only Ash Remains'. I had to have the album that came off of !!!
The first thing that jumps out at you is the stunning guitar work. It's just dazzling. Reminding me heavily of late era `Death' in its virtuosity. I am a death metal fan through and through, and this kind of superb melody has always had a big effect on me. I love the brutal blasts and shredding riffs, and obviously the belching vocals, harmoniously played against the classical style leads that just abound on this record.
`Seven' is a track that leads in with some great mid paced music, broken up with tempo changes, some guttural vocals and a nice bass twang. This track more than the rest for me reminds me of Death and Cynic. The band do have their own sound, so don't be alarmed that you'll just be purchasing a Schuldiner copy, you won't.
Through out this record there is a real sense of musical prowess, but it never gets on top of the main sound. If you like technical death metal you'll love this !! If you just love plain old brutal/ fast death metal you shouldn't be too disappointed either.
Don't be put off by the song titles either. I am suspecting that the band members have a nice sense of humour, and after all in today's mainstream of death metal, how do you expect to sell a record unless it has an opening track entitled "Stabwound" on it huh?
This album is all about the fantastic music contained within it. For fans of Cryptopsy, Nile, Decapitated and Vital Remains' 'Dechristianise' album, as the great melody is very similar to the 'Suzuki widdling' on that fine record.

Rating: - Back To The Old Ways

Music has, in a short if perhaps blunt statement, degraded, over the past century. Particularly in the last one, two, maybe three or four decades. The vision and skill of the composers of old has all but vanished in these times and the few remaining practitioners are all considered to be at the fringe of musical society. Musicians now believe knowledge and emotion are mutually exclusive in a loss of a truly universal outlook.

Forunately, Necrophagist have contradicted this idea, and, most importantly, WELL. Led by virtuoso guitarist and vocalist Muhammed Suicmez, who, in his unique and grand Classical-inspired vision, was left bandless to create and produce the Necro's debut, 'Onset Of Putrefaction', Necrophagist use the 'old ways' to create the musically-universal masterpiece that is 'Epitaph'.

Guitars are hyper-technical, throwing out riffs that while seeming "soulless" and more technicality-centred, or 'muso', have actual melodic value and pertain very much to the death metal root of the band. There is also much of harmony and poLyphony in the guitars that imply a careful composition. There is also much imagination put into the guitar work. Powerchords are shunned here in favour of all sorts of chords, including major, minor and augmented.
A good example of this is the intro' to the song 'Seven'. Guitars split up a palm-muted minor chord to achieve an extremely powerful and ambient effect adding to mysterious atmosphere of the song better than any powerchord.
Guitars also stick rigidly to the exotic-sounding harmonic minor scale. To mix up the sound, the Classical idea of slipping in 'accidental' notes every now and then, particularly in leads, is introduced. There is also the odd defection from the scale to add in fresh-sounding melodies. One can hear the Japanese scale at one point, and 'Seven' has many wholetone scale moments.

Bass is also very technical, and quite funky-sounding. Although 'funk' is often realted to tone, the bass shredding heard in such examples as the intro' to 'Only Ash Remains' and behind 'Seven''s main riff makes the riffs sound more layered and, well, 'fun', to listen to.
Drums are your typical death metal drumming blasting, completed with breakdowns, rolls and fills. They also, on 'Epitaph', and actually on the first record too, sound laser-precise and have a sense of rhythmicality that complements the guitars well.
Suicmez's vocals are the only non-technical side of the band, but the sound is quite a contrast to the racing sound of the sound. The tone of Muhammed's voice is also quite powerful and his pronunciation, while perhaps inaudible to many without acopy of the lyrics, is controlled and almost professional sounding to practitioners of cookie monster vocals, disallowing unnecessary noises to leave his mouth. The vocals still manage to fit the music well.

Through the use of Classical composition and techniques, Necrophagist have created a masterpiece. Full of diverse and fresh listening with lots of catchy Classical vibes and death metal blasts to catch onto seamlessly combined. It is truly beyond the concpet of relevance; it is universal shortly, death metal is 'Epitaph''s root but there is much more on offer here, which was death metal's original intentions. Suicmez manages to show us that all music is essentially indifferent in time. He has displayed a mastery of instruments and a mastery in the understanding of music as a whole.
The ultimate resistance to degradation.

Rating: - Impressive but no soul i feel.

I got this album due to the reviews so i had no idea what to expect. I put it on and i was like woooo calm it down a little. The reviews said the guitars were amazing which they are i guess but at the end of day its all just fast shit and it has no soul. Put it this way it is no DIMEBAG DARELL or an Amott. Also they use the same sort of guitar ryth in every song so it gets kinda boring and when they do slow it down the ryths are below average in my opinion anyway. The drumming is crazy as well as the bass. The vocals are shite just like most metal vocals but i dont listen to metal for the vocals.

I'm glad i got it cos i have nothing really like it in my collection.

Basically it is impressive stuff but it gets boring after while. Its not the sort thing you can listen to at any kinda of social event. I cant really think of anywhere it is suitable to listen to apart from when you wanna get sumin done super fast and if you were on speed you would go insane. It does make you wanna run round the block a few times like a maniac.

There just a bunch of show offs really who obviously have no sense for real metal music. Maybe they do but this CD certainly doesnt show it.

So if you want sumin really hectic and ridiculously fast with some crisp production for what it is. Get this.

It sounds a bit like Graig David.

Rating: - Mind Blowing

This is technical Death metal at it's best, The guitar playing is just astounding, The vocals are pretty standard death metal but the musicanship on offer is incrediable, The drumming is fast and precise, the bass playing is very good, and the guitars, well as a guitarist the leads on this album are mind blowing, not your standard death metal at all, these guys take more influence from players Like Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen, and Paul gilbert, they have a melodic, Neo-classical style of shredding, with heavy use of sweep picking. As a band they change tempo and change time signature with great ease and at great speed. This album is really all about the guitar playing and should be heard buy all that enjoy listening really good guitar work.

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