Necronomicon: Advent Of The Human God

Symphonic extremists who don’t know the score

You can trust Louder Our experienced team has worked for some of the biggest brands in music. From testing headphones to reviewing albums, our experts aim to create reviews you can trust. Find out more about how we review.

Starting off sounding way too much like it’s 2002 and Dimmu Borgir’s Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia is still cutting edge, these Canadians then move into even less original territory by sounding like Vader without the charisma.

There’s nothing ostensibly wrong with their death metal laced with theatrical synthesised symphonics, it’s that it quickly falls into territory only serious enthusiasts of this fare will get excited about. Predictable drumming and riffs that don’t crunch or punch as much as they need to are occasionally saved by some rhythmic chug and sweeping strings (Unification Of The Four Pillars), but these moments are far too few and far between to carry the record.

Ultimately, the cautious competence of Advent Of The Human God can’t gird the loins or race the pulse anywhere near enough to stick in the memory.

It’s a long way from being terrible, but it’s too forgettable, not nearly gleeful enough and simply doesn’t stand out from the crowd.