Horror will never end with the birth of Season Of The Dead.
Eager to perpetuate the legacy of the late Frank “Killjoy” Pucci (Necrophagia), John McEntee (vocals, Incantation), Fiore Stravino (vocals, Fulci), Dave Neabore (bass, Dog Eat Dog), Chuck Sherwood (bass, Incantation), Giacomo Anselmi (guitar, Goblin Legacy), and Titta Tani (drums, ex-Goblin, ex-Necrophagia) announce their new project with a debut album, Zombie Chronicles Vol. 1, on Time To Kill Records.
Intro Necromancy immediately immerses us in the horrific sounds that the band champions, thanks to a particularly disturbing sample where Andrea Gianangeli‘s (Galderia, Virtual Symmetry) keyboards and percussion welcome a few ritualistic vocal parts, but it is indeed Then We’ll Rise that leads the charge after a new sample. The disturbing riffs multiply, then the Old School Death Metal base and growls take over in a morbid and oppressive atmosphere that doesn’t hesitate to slow down to make us feel the full weight of its darkness before strengthening again. All kinds of groans of pain can be heard at the end, then Voodoo Ritual imposes its thick, jerky riffs haunted by McEntee‘s vocals, sometimes massive, sometimes more morbid, but the song quickly gives way to Events Of Flesh, which takes a similar approach, playing on harmonics to recreate those stressful tones. Blast beats and fast riffs are obviously present under Stravino‘s growls, which fit perfectly with this gloomy atmosphere, just like on Open The Gates, where the Italian singer also wreaks havoc and offers massive vocal parts, but which know how to be more discreet when the frightening elements come into play. John McEntee takes over the mic for the brutal The Other Side, which starts off at a good pace but lets disturbing keyboards surface before unleashing its most terrifying groans between two rhythmic eruptions that eventually rush us into Burning Moon Sickness, a fairly groovy and accessible composition. The heavy sound draws on its Sabbath-esque Doom influences to slow down and allow samples to animate their heaviness, but they also know how to fade away to accelerate towards the final growls and then towards Bloodfreak, which closes the album in the purest tradition of dirty Death Metal oriented towards horror cinema, with touches of aggression and samples included to conclude this first chapter.
Killjoy‘s spirit lives on through Season Of The Dead, which is not only a beautiful tribute to their late friend, but also a very interesting collaboration! Zombie Chronicles Vol. 1 flies the flag for gory Death Metal, and leaves us hoping for more of the same in the future.
85/100