When one thinks of Greek metal bands from the late 80s and early 90s, black metal tends to dominate the discussion. But under the surface there have always been noteworthy groups in the other styles, with Death Courier being one that stands out as one of the earlier Greek death metal bands. Formed in 1987, the band released a slew of demos and a full length in 1992 that channeled that similar blend of thrash and early death metal before the two genres were separately distinguished. Though they would call it quits a year later, original member Bill reactivated Death Courier in 2009 and they’ve been putting out material sporadically ever since. This year’s Necrotic Verses is their second full length since this reunion and finds the band continuing to do what they do best, with speedy and concise riffing broken up by some haunting, slower passages.
Necrotic Verses may have modern production values that bring the guitar and drums to the front similar to the approach that a lot of death metal bands have taken over the past decade, but the writing still feels like it could have been ripped out of the golden age of the genre when things were a bit more simplistic and the emphasis was mainly on speed and brutality. That’s not to say that there isn’t technicality to what Death Courier is doing here, but the songs tend to fly by fairly quickly and you won’t find the same type of density or complexity as some of the more modern variants of death metal that are common these days. Instead, the trio hits you with scorching riffs that pull as much from old-school thrash as they do early death metal and balance that speed and fire with slower passages that establish a creepy atmosphere that sounds like it could be coming directly from a murky crypt. It’s a familiar take on the genre for sure, but similar to Vader’s latest full-length Death Courier succeeds thanks to their brevity and the quality of each of their riffs. The instrumentals bludgeon when they need to but slow things down at just the right moment to avoid feeling like they’re simply repeating the same ideas over and over again. There are still a few songs that blur together in the scheme of things, but the bass driven grooves on “As Heaven Blends With Rot” and the sheer brutality of speedy attacks on “Mourning Ecstasy” and “Immune” serve as highlights.
Bill has been with Death Courier since the very beginning, and if you’ve heard any of the band’s material you’ll notice a consistency to the vocal performance. Despite having been at it for over thirty years his guttural growls haven’t lost any of their intensity, and the way they tower over the recording helps to amplify things considerably. The pitch falls somewhere between the extremely low ranges of Chris Barnes era Cannibal Corpse and the slightly higher pitched, echoey approach of Immolation, with there being a good amount of distortion and grime to each word. Old-school death metal fans are sure to find plenty of other comparisons that can be made to some of their favorite vocalists, but the bottom line is that the performance here is top notch and keeps things as brutal and in your face as you’d expect from death metal.
While not as known as many of the American and Swedish bands that were helping to shape death metal and thrash around the same time, Death Courier remains just as sharp thirty years later. Their latest full-length amps up the intensity even further and delivers some heavy hitting and fast paced riffs alongside well-placed atmosphere. Some of it may blur together at times but it captures the spirit and fire of the genre better than some of the better-known names have managed to release over the past few years. Necrotic Verses is available from Transcending Obscurity Records.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg
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