Necrophobic, “Nocturnal Massacre” Review

30 years ago, NECROPHOBIC debuted with their album The Nocturnal Silence. To celebrate this, the band held a concert in their hometown, “Stockholm”, where they played a very exclusive and special set. Containing only tracks from the 1990s and albums such as The Nocturnal Silence and Darkside.

As a big fan of black and death metal, I can’t deny that I was very excited for this evening where I would have the chance to hear tracks from the 1990s, not being played usually at NECROPHOBIC‘s concerts, even though I’m a big fan of the more modern stuff. But hey, one can’t love the new and modern stuff without respecting where it came from! Also, I was very excited to see KVAEN again which have grown into being one of my more favorite black metal act this year. Anyhow, this big happening was called “Nocturnal Massacre” which was held in the central area of Stockholm and in the venue of “Kulturhuset Stadsteatern”, really delivered on my expectations. With a really fun and diverse group of opening acts that did an amazing job warming up the audience, the atmosphere was just right in time for NECROPHOBIC‘s entrance. 30 years of darkness and mayhem have surely not affected NECROPHOBIC‘s energy which held a performance that would make SLAYER proud. Although I for one can’t keep up in a moshpit anymore, I found myself moving my head at all time in line with the music (well, mostly all the time at least.). With such an amazing setlist, I found it very hard in this review to pick a favorite track. Tracks such as ‘Black Moon Rising‘, ‘The Nocturnal Silence‘ and ‘Where Sinners Burn‘ didn’t really make it easy for me since I loved them all. But, there can only be one favorite track in this review and I have to go with ‘Nailing The Holy One‘ which gave me goosebumps from start to finish with that exceptional “Evil” sound of angry guitars and super fast drums.

30 years is a really long time (hell, that’s even longer than I’ve lived) but that doesn’t seem to stop NECROPHOBIC which only seems to age like fine wine.

What: Nocturnal Massacre
Where: Stockholm, Kulturhuset Stadsteatern
When: 30/9-23
Rating: 8/10

Check out photo gallery and performances below:

NECROPHOBIC (Death/Black Metal)

“Taking their moniker from a song off SLAYER‘s landmark 1986 album Reign in Blood, NECROPHOBIC is a blackened Swedish death metal group that emerged in the early 1990s with an uncompromising sound and lyrical style that favors themes of anti-Christianity and Viking mythology. Since debuting in 1993 with ‘The Nocturnal Silence‘, the band has endured numerous lineup changes but has managed to issue a slew of punitive EPs and albums, including Death to All (2009), Womb of Lilithu (2013), and Dawn of The Damned (2020).”
– Spotify

Like mentioned earlier, NECROPHOBIC really delivered on their performance and you can’t almost believe been keeping this up for 30 years. I was really impressed by Anders great energy during his vocal performance and how he also kept up the mood and challenging the crowd to at least match their energy, which I most say were really tough job to do. But I believe the crowd truly delivered and made NECROPHOBIC proud of their own hometown.

Best performance: ‘Nailing The Holy One’
Rating: 9/10
NECROPHOBIC is:
Joakim Sterner – Drums
Anders Strokirk – Vocals
Sebastian Ramstedt – Guitar
Johan Bergebäck – Guitar

GENERAL SURGERY (Death Metal/Goregrind)

“If any band is going to thrive during a global pandemic, it’s Sweden’s GENERAL SURGERY. The unsigned deathgrind quintet spent their time in lockdown making use of increasingly-common telemedicine technologies in order to maintain clinical collaboration despite travel restrictions. The band’s research in the field of pathology is well documented. Beginning with their self-published 1989 article, Erosive Offals (Malignant Necrotomy), the surgical team has conducted a number of short-form studies in the ensuing years, as well as two well-regarded theses: 2006’s ‘Left Hand Pathology‘ and 2009’s ‘Corpus In Extremis: Analysing Necrocriticism‘. Most recently, their 2017 resarch alongside Spain’s Bodybag shook the academic pathology world to its core.”
– Spotify

Personally, I’m not a big fan of “Grind” music. But I found GENERAL SURGERY doing a great job in keeping up the energy within the crowd and paved the way for the headliner.

Best performance: ‘Necrogore’
Rating: 7/10
GENERAL SURGERY is:
Andreas Eriksson – Bass, Vocals (Backing)
Adde Mitroulis – Drums, Vocals (Backing)
Joacim Carlsson – Guitar
Erik Sahlström – Vocals (Lead)
Urban Skytt – Guitar

KVAEN (Black/Pagan/Viking Metal)

“BLOOD,FIRE AND DEATH. Hailing from the barren wastelands of Norrbotten, Sweden, KVAEN is an extreme metal band led by guitarist and vocalist Jacob Björnfot. KVAEN‘s debut album ‘The Funeral Pyre‘ was released unto the world in the beginning of 2020. Heavily influenced by traditional speed metal, folk music, death metal and relentless black metal the album received stellar reviews and launched the project unto stages all over Europe.”
– Spotify

This is the second time within same quarter I watch KVAEN live. As I mentioned earlier, KVAEN was the one I was really anticipated to see again live after watching his performance earlier at “Månegarm Open Air 2023”. Although this time I’ve been doing my homework and been listening to his album on repeat, preparing to find new favorites and hear them live again. I wasn’t disappointed. I hope KVAEN will receive the recognition it deserves within the nearest future. FIIIIIRE!

Best performance: ‘Revenge By Fire’
Rating: 9/10
KVAEN is:
Jacob Björnfot – Everything

ETERNAL EVIL (Black/Thrash Metal)

“In December 2019, ETERNAL EVIL released their first demo, which immediately had a huge impact in metal Sweden. Everything was recorded and mixed in singer Adrian Tobar‘s garage, which also set the tone for its raw and cold sound.”
– Spotify

What better to start the evening if not some really fast and loud thrash metal? I’ve never heard or listened to ETERNAL EVIL before this evening. But wow. These guys brought some spectacular energy to the show and really set the bar for the rest of the night. Sadly I can’t say I found them to my taste in metal music and I didn’t walk away with a new favorite. But if I ever find my self going to a festival where they will perform, you can count on me being there to absorb the energy once more.

Best performance: ‘Eternal Evil’
Rating: 8/10
ETERNAL EVIL is:
Adrian Tobar – Vocals, Guitar
Tobias Ozzy Lindström – Guitar
Niklas Saari – Bass
Adam Schmidt – Drums