In 1991, NECROMANCY entered the studio as a three-piece to record a MLP entitled "Ancient Wrath." Unfortunately, the three songs that comprise the "Ancient Wrath" recording would never see the light of day, nor would the many other songs the band had written but not yet recorded. In the winter of 1992, while serving in the Greek military, Living Dead suffered a heart attack and died at the age of 20. Without Living Dead's involvement, Hades and Unblessed chose to terminate their mission, and the "Ancient Wrath" MLP remained unreleased and unheard for over two decades. The excavation of these recordings is a monumental event, not only for their historical value in the context of the then-burgeoning Greek black metal movement, but because this MLP is a superb display of atmospheric Greek black death in its own right. There remain so few stones left unturned in this scene that the discovery of three previously unreleased studio tracks by NECROMANCY, recorded just as the band began to hone its sound and settle into its stylistic skin, is an extraordinary event. Indeed, NECROMANCY's approach on "Ancient Wrath" is somewhat unique, making the release of this material even more remarkable. While the band's sound is still clearly influenced by the same classic thrash and death metal and first wave black metal that guided their earlier work (i.e. SODOM, KREATOR, OBITUARY, NECRODEATH, BATHORY, VENOM, CELTIC FROST, etc.), the band's focus on this MLP turned sharply toward the distinctly regional black metal style then taking hold in Greece. The musicianship on this recording is impassioned but rudimentary; there are no gratuitous displays of virtuosity on "Ancient Wrath." The instrumentation is stripped down and defleshed, distilled to the essence of Hellenic black metal. The production, while not inept, is such that each of the constituent sounds is vulnerable, leaving the nervous system of the songs splayed and exposed. There are few, if any, recordings in the great body of Greek black or death metal releases that feature such a compellingly raw display of the Greek spirit.
