On Zombie Blood Nightmare, Necronomicon Ex Mortis lean fully into the friction between high-level shred and low-budget horror camp. This six-song collection doesn’t just pay tribute to the gore-soaked traditions of 90s death metal; it treats the genre like a sandbox where technical precision and absurd B-movie theatrics can collide without apology.
Starting with “Left To Die,” the music sways with a heavy and rhythmic rot that serves as a foundation for guest solos that cut through the density. This transitions into “No More Room In Hell,” where the band shifts into a more frantic driven sprint.The music feels like a chase scene, breathless and persistent, capturing the kinetic energy of the treading undead.
While the band is clearly focused on technicality, they aren’t afraid to let the music settle into riff driven insanity. “Chopped Up and Burned” is the epitome of excess stacking riff upon riff. Is there a limit? Not in this track and it’s glorious. It’s the polar opposite to “Lumbering, Blood Sucking Freaks” with its hypnotic rhythm that is uneven in its delightfully strange delivery.
Penultimate track, “Hungry For Brains” returns to a savage symmetry with a thrash assault that gnaws at one with a blunt vocal aggression. By utilising shifting time signatures to mirror the chaos of the cult horror it draws from, the final track, “Démoni,” is the most unstable of the set. By the time the final solo spirals out of control, Necronomicon Ex Mortis has successfully turned the “horror-metal” trope into something that feels genuinely alive and dangerous. It’s a gory leap into a sound that is as sharp as it is malformed and it leaves a sense of mayhem that feels like a gateway to something much darker.
