Necroknight
The Skullthrone


2.5
average

Review

by brickhed USER (22 Reviews)
February 2nd, 2025 | 8 replies


Release Date: 12/01/2024 | Tracklist

Review Summary: Painfully average, with nothing interesting to offer. But things can be fixed.

In this day and age, (especially after an oversaturation of music from 2024) you need to give listeners a reason to choose you over the rest that do the exact same thing. Without this in mind, you will only remain as a local band/artist. This thought process does not seem to have popped in with the members of Necroknight, and especially with their debut LP, The Skullthrone.

Necroknight is a German Death Metal band who also released a handful of singles, a demo, and an EP before this. But I don't think it will be any more creative than this.
The Skullthrone has major problems that drag it down, the most agreeable of which is the almost complete absence of variety. The album is full of generic, catchy, and melodic riffs that you forget a half hour after you listen to it. The only time this lets up is halfway through the 6th track, Fallen Knight. This is easily the most engaging part of the album. The change in tone makes the melodies more memorable, with the lone guitar doing all of the work.


The thing is, all of these guys are reasonably good at what they do. Nothing sounds bad, and the vocals actually sound good. But the thing with Death Metal is that the growling vocals are held up by the instrumental. The production is as clean as a whistle, so there’s no problems there. The second issue I find is that despite the capability of everyone in the band, there is no attempt to stand out.
I might be biased here. I listen to a lot of experimental music, and I also don’t listen to much Melodic Death Metal. I try my best to understand the music before I write a review. But this entire album bores me. Here’s my personal advice.
When you start jamming and writing songs for your next album, start messing around. Try to break free from the tropes that you all leaned on so heavily for this album. If you don’t want to try out weird song structures, atonal notes, or dissonance (which I perfectly understand), then try to add other influences. If there’s a band member that likes other genres of death metal, try incorporating it into the sound while still keeping the Melodic Death Metal identity the band is going for. It will make the next album a huge breath of fresh air.
Summary: Add more elements and experiment. If you don't want to get too weird, then use other genre influences. Also, add more variety. What you guys did halfway through Fallen Knight is a pretty good start. Add more elements like that and you’ll get more interest.

Would I recommend this album? No. There are other bands who do this so much better, and don't use every trope in the book. But I’m using this review to hopefully provide input, as they are a pretty new band.

Recommended Tracks: Fallen Knight.



Recent reviews by this author
VGA Host Copper Lemon ZincNatural Snow Buildings Night Coercion Into the Company of Witches
Bekor Qilish Throes of Death From The Dreamed NihilismMerzbow Music for Bondage Performance
Merzbow Dust of DreamsGWAR This Toilet Earth
user ratings (7)
2.9
good


Comments:Add a Comment 
ToSmokMuzyki
February 4th 2025


13528 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

u guys did the wrong kind of mainstream songwriting so ur bad

brickhed
February 4th 2025


39 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

thats not what i was going for at all

really just dumbing it down to its barebones and ignoring every point

the whole point is to strive to do something different (while still being in their niche) and to stand out from a sea of oversaturation, the word mainstream is not even mentioned in this entire review



i dunno i'm taking users who do this ad hominem shit too seriously

If you liked it that's cool, but stupid comments like that just get under my skin for some reason.

ToSmokMuzyki
February 4th 2025


13528 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

well yes its a summary of essentially what you are saying if i went point by point i would end up writing a review of your review 4x the length

you predetermine their album is only worth something if they do something special and go on and on about what would make it subjectively better for you

you flat out admit you dont really know what youre listening to

not what an ad hominem is but ok

budgie
February 4th 2025


38951 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

sup guys

farmerobama
February 4th 2025


560 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Thanks for taking your time to review some underground!

The review feels more like a criticism of the genre itself than the band tho. Maybe you just don't like Melodeath and that's fine. I listen to a lot of stoner/doom and get told that it sounds samey and generic all the time, but i enjoy it so what? And I think thats true for every genre that has been around for a while. I'm no expert on Melodeath either, but I can appreciate some well-crafted, hand-made metal music and I really like it. And hell maybe the will experiment more in the future.



Dizchu
February 4th 2025


665 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

I don't think this is standard melodeath, to me it sounds like they're emphasizing the NWOBHM influence and downplaying the elements standardized by the Gothenburg scene.



I think the production is what lets it down tbh, it doesn't really have any character. If they took some cues from epic doom bands like Eternal Champion they'd be onto something.

Dizchu
February 4th 2025


665 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

ok I listened to the whole thing and I'm kinda rooting for them, the last song is my favorite.

ToSmokMuzyki
February 4th 2025


13528 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

it is kind of weakly played out but what i'd expect from an amateur band



You have to be logged in to post a comment. Login | Create a Profile





STAFF & CONTRIBUTORS // CONTACT US

Bands: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z


Site Copyright 2005-2023 Sputnikmusic.com
All Album Reviews Displayed With Permission of Authors | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy