Metal Underground.com

Necronomicon’s fifth album “Advent of the Human God” shows the Canadian band (don’t confuse them with the German thrash outfit) mix up atmosphere with brutality. Their sound is akin to an anti-Christ infant spawned from the blasphemous union of Dimmu Borgir and Behemoth. While the bulk of the album follows death metal’s great Satanic bands (think Morbid Angel, Deicide and Behemoth), there are plenty of cinematic intros and even a few keyboard-driven passages within the songs.

Divine choirs and even an underlining horn (all digitally derived, though) provide the oomph to album intro “The Descent.” It’s not difficult to guess where our ears descend. A whirlwind of drums and royal keys, ala Dimmu Borgir, launch the album’s metal side with the following title track. Movie score-like intros provide an awe-inspiring beginning to most tracks. “Gaia,” “Okkultis Trinity,” and the Celtic Frost cover “Innocence and Wrath” are purely instrumentals, although the Frost instrumental seems out of place without the accompanying “The Usurper.” The band shows its diverse side on “The Fjord,” which contains both acoustic guitar and Nile-ish colossal drums.

These arrangements are different from Dimmu Borgir in that the keyboards are primarily used for intros. There are songs, though, like “Crown of Thorns” and “Unification of the Four Pillars” that use keys throughout. The later track even shows Rob "The Witch" Tremblay go full-on Dimmu, even adjusting his voice to sound to sound a bit like Shagrath. One complaint black metal fans have about Dimmu Borgir and Cradle of Filth is their over use of keys. That’s not the case with “Advent of the Human God.” The keys rarely mash with the violence of their drums, bass and guitars.

“(I) Bringer of Light” contains the album’s best grooves, and the band’s penchant for Behemoth riffs really come out here. This song reveals the group at it’s best with catchy guitars that don’t want to leave one’s memory. “Alchemy of the Avatar” is another bruising number, but has a tasteful use of keyboards throughout the song, put into the right place like during transitional moments.

Starting in 1988, Necronomicon appeared on the Canadian death metal scene during it’s early, golden years when bands like Oliveon made their case for Canada being on the map. Necronomicon didn’t do much in the early nineties and didn’t release a full length until 1999, and that album was influenced by Nile. Jump forward 17-years later and the group has found the occult ways of Dimmu Borgir and Behemoth as inspiration. While Necronomicon pulls this off well, the band still doesn't possess the song writing capabilities of the above-mentioned artists, netting a lower ranking due to the inability to find a more original sound.