Review: War Atrocities – Necromantical Legions

Croatian black thrashers War Atrocities, a one man war machine from Split, released their MCD ‘Necromantical Legions’ back in December, but this is my first opportunity to hear it, and man is it a twenty five minutes chainsaw through the jugular. You can find it on Witches Brew Productions.

‘Screams from the Pits’ begins with an eerie start, lulling you into that false sense of security. The tolling bell that starts ‘Destruktor of Eternal’ is equally creepy, but then the classic early Sodom riffing begins, and you find out what War Atrocities are all about. Rabid riffing, a cavernous rasp espousing darkness and evil, and a nasty but almost straightforward set of riffs keeps the music memorable. The production isn’t too raw either, which helps the songs breathe a little.

‘Mayhem Mongers’ is a rocking piece of black thrash, while ‘Cryptic Calls’ has more than a dash of classic Celtic Frost about it.. It’s actually nice to hear a band injecting a bit of genuinely musicality into this genre, as most are just relentless, battering Bathory worship. Speaking of Quorthon, the disc closes with the Bathory song ‘Armageddon’, which seems quite fitting. ‘Necromantical Legions’ is nowhere near as raw as some blackened thrash out there, but that gives it a new lease on life, as songs like the rampant ‘Storm of the Tyrant’ and the awesome ‘Ripper’s Call’ are testament to.

https://www.facebook.com/War-Atrocities-Band-513707558681644/?fref=nf

https://waratrocities.bandcamp.com/

http://www.witchesbrewthrashes.eu/shop/