NEOKHROME - Perihelion

Neokhrome is a band I didn’t even know existed until a while ago; more precisely until I got an e-mail from vocalist/instrument player Vasvári Gyula. What made me accept the invitation to write something about this material? First of all, the teaser presented by the band, but in a way I also considered where this band came from: Hungary. Why? If we think a little, when it comes to extreme metal, Hungary is one of the most interesting places in the world. And here I remember names such as Tormentor, Ahriman, Sear Bliss, Funebre, Morbid Carnage, Bornholm and the list could continue. The band was created in 2001 in Debrecen, approximately 60 kilometres from Oradea. To date, the Hungarians have released two studio albums: Manifestation of the Forgotten Subconscious in 2004 and Downfall / Collapse, three years later.

Neokhrome, as their fellow countrymen mentioned above, are decent in execution, even if their music does not excel in originality. The band proposes an interesting mix of melodic black/death elements diluted with a combination of soft rock/electro. Some sort of radio friendly black/death metal. Rather nice, organic in execution and most likely to the taste of occasional consumers of melodic black metal or fans of bands like Borknagar, Sear Bliss or even the new Dimmu Borgir. Strongly dominated by keyboards, melody and the alternance of semi-guttural/clean vocals and condimented with atmospheric passages, the music of Neokhrome has good chances to bring them commercial success. Compared to the previous materials, it has been somehow diluted, bringing in more melody at the expense of aggressive parts. It all depends on how they’ll play their cards and what they want to do next. All in all, Neokhrome gives you sincere music, natural evolution without needless force. A name to follow in the future.

H. Nota: 7.5