Necronaut: Necronaut

Review

Fred Estby's (Dismember/Centinex/etc.) project Necronaut is being touted as Sweden's answer to Dave Grohl's Probot.

Like Probot, Necronaut features a different guest vocalist for just about every song, but instead of huge names like Max Cavalera, Lemmy Kilmister, Tom Warrior, and King Diamond, Necronaut's names are . . . a little less well-known. But that's not to say they're nobodies: E of Watain, J.B. of Grand Magus, and Tomas Lindberg of At the Gates. These are no slouches.

What really matters, though, is not star power, but the songs. And that's where Necronaut fails. While none of the songs are really terrible (except perhaps "Tower of Doom"), there is not a single track on here that will stick with you after you've finished (except perhaps "After the Void").

On top of that, there is the expected lack of album cohesion. Ideally, the music would have had a consistent style, while the vocalists would provide a different flavor for each track. But the music is as chameleon as the vocals. It starts out in melo-death At the Gates territory, gets a little more Entombed on "In Dark Tribute", then completely switches to trad metal on "Soulside Serpents". "Infecting Madness" sounds like a less-heavy aping of Bloodbath. "The Lie in Which the Truth Is Buried" sounds like that Soulfly song that featured Tom Araya (and man, does Estby sound like Araya). The album standout "After the Void" sounds like Candlemass, but with a bluesy solo.

I guess you might want to download the songs from your favorite vocalists, but buying the whole album is a waste. Really.

The Verdict: You might want to pass on this one. Dave Grohl may not exactly be trve or kvlt enough for you, but he sure as hell did a better job on the vanity album. I give it 2 out of 5 stars.