Review Summary: A bridge release with one song that already crossed it.
I had never written a review of an EP. I’m old enough to have a certain bias against this kind of release strategy. Is it legitimate for a band to do it? Of course. Is it just pure grumpiness from a (nearly) old man? You bet.
Even so, here I am reviewing one by Nekrogoblikon. And why do it? For two fundamental reasons. The first is that Power is a Nekrogoblikon release, and this band deserves that I make an effort to break my own personal paradigm. The second reason I’ll get to in a moment. Keep reading and you’ll understand.
Power (2013) is a small release, but an important one in Nekrogoblikon’s trajectory, as it serves as a bridge between two very different phases of the band.
The context comes right after Stench (2011), an album marked by excess: too much speed, too much testosterone, too many ideas all at once. It was a Nekrogoblikon still heavily rooted in chaotic melodic death metal, with less focus on groove and structure. And there was also a lingering residue (somewhat irritating to my personal taste) of "folk" music.
Power emerges, then, as a way to start testing the band’s sonic direction. You can begin to hear the transformation taking shape. Still in a timid way, there’s already more space for groove and more defined, impactful choruses. It’s the baby step that would later culminate in Heavy Meta in 2015.
The EP works as a laboratory: it’s not yet the “mature” Nekrogoblikon, but it’s no longer the chaos of the early records. It’s precisely at this point that the EP stops being just a lab exercise and starts to reveal, even on a smaller scale, the band’s full potential. Because if there’s one track that sums up everything Nekrogoblikon is (and everything it would go on to become), it goes by the name of “Powercore.”
“Powercore” is not just the highlight of the EP; it’s practically the entire universe of heavy metal compressed into less than four minutes (and the second reason for writing this review). Don’t believe me? Then take a look at what this track delivers:
- clean vocals
- guttural vocals
- harsh vocals
- guitar solos
- dual guitar leads
- keyboard solo (!!!)
- bass solo (!!!)
- fast-paced sections
- mid-tempo grooves
- catchy melodic chorus
- aggressive lyrics
“Powercore” is the heavy metal universe in a nutshell. It’s its own “theory of everything.” How these guys managed to fit all of that into a single ~4-minute track without it sounding forced is an act of genius worthy of Stephen Hawking.
But the EP doesn’t stop there. Despite its somewhat annoying accordion, “Giraffe” is fun (pure Nekrogoblikon unfiltered humor). Not to mention hearing the band laughing at the end of the recording — it’s great. The laughter is contagious, and it’s genuinely nice to hear them having fun in the studio.
“Bells & Whistles” is another strong moment on the EP. Yet another track that leans toward this more structured side of the band. It works very well as an exercise in groove and dynamics, with a hilariously odd, almost tribal interlude.
“Friends (in Space)” and “Nothing But Crickets” are okay tracks. They have good ideas, they have energy, but they feel a bit less inspired overall. It’s Nekrogoblikon in sketch mode, which isn’t necessarily bad, but it’s not exactly exciting either. Exception goes to the somewhat djent-like moment in “Crickets” at 2:46.
In the end, Power is exactly what an EP should be: It’s short, imperfect, sometimes inconsistent… but honest in what it sets out to do. It works as a transitional document, a laboratory, and most importantly, as a clear sign of what Nekrogoblikon would become a few years later.
Not every track carries the same weight, and the EP definitely doesn’t hold together as strongly as a full-length album. But when it hits (and “Powercore” proves that) it hits with a level of confidence that few bands at this stage of their career can pull off. It hit HARD, VERY HARD.
In the end, my bias against EPs remains intact. But if I’m going to break the rule, let it be for something like this.
