What do you do when you’ve outgrown the confines of your genre? It sounds like France’s Necrowretch have been grappling with that question since their humble beginnings as a one-man lo-fi blackened death dealer. Small tweaks to a tried and true formal can only carry you so far, though, and so after four years comes the massive leap of Swords of Dajjal, signaling a revitalized band with a new approach and sonic ferocity. Sometimes the hype is for real, folks.

Not that there was anything particularly wrong before. Starting with 2013’s Putrid Death Sorcery and continuing through the triptych with 2015’s With Serpents Scourge and 2017’s Satanic Slavery main man Vlad expanded to a full band and crafted some gnarly metal that maintained a bleeding raw edge on tracks like “Feast Off Their Doom” and frantic “Hellspawn Pyre”. But just when the future was starting to come into focus on 2020’s The Ones From Hell the pandemic hit, leaving the band years to figure out what the next move would be.

Turns out that move was a bold, spending years crafting the set of songs that would make up Swords of Dajjal, and taking way more time in the production and recording process than they had at any time in the last decade. Much more time was spent chasing sounds and tones, and writing on acoustics to ensure the song craft and arrangements were there before adding on the crushing distortion that finds its way on the finished album. Sometimes you had about this stuff and chalk it up to standard PR talk, but one listen to the album amply demonstrates the truth in the tale. This sounds almost like a different band: the riffs are stronger, the vocals nastier, and the rhythms bold and punishing under a much clearer production.

The change in sound is immediately apparent on opener “Ksar Al-Kufar” which ramps up the black metal riffing over some resounding drums. Everything is bigger, more expansive sounding than before. That emphasis on black metal is on full display throughout the album. Lyrically it fits with the concept of Dajjal, a sort of anti-christ of the Muslim faith who serves as the foundation for Necrowretch tales of ancient evil prophecies. Musically, it finds perfect harmony with the tremolo and blast beats of “The Fifth Door” and the terrifying throat singing that opens the malevolent “Numidian Knowledge”. There’s even some anthemic melodies and crushing heavy metal epicness in the all-too-brief instrumental “Daeva” which acts as prologue to the closing madness of “Total Obliteration”, a fitting end to an album intent on devastation.

By refusing to stick to the map, by insisting on growth and experimentation and taking the time to get it right, Necrowretch have made in Swords of Dajjal the best album of their career. It’s really as simple as that. Nothing is sacrificed and everything is gained on a monster record that sets the bar for what others need to aspire to if they want to not be discussed at year’s end, but if they want to continue making a dent in what is incredible about metal one, five, ten years from now.

-Chris

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Swords of Dajjal is available February 2nd from Season of Mist. For more information on Necrowretch, check out their website, Facebook, and Instagram pages.