NECRONOMIDOL – Voidhymn

Dark metal Cthulu-themed idol group NECRONOMIDOL find themselves at an interesting point in their career. Beginning to break out of the Tokyo chika idol underground, they’re building an international fan base on the back of US, European and Asian tours and are using their latest release to capitalise on this momentum. Their third album, Voidhymn, like some ungodly two-headed beast summoned from the depths of H.P. Lovecraft’s imagination, manages to look both back and forward at the same time. We’re shown the past in re-recordings of some select fan favourite tracks and the future through six new songs.

There’s always a risk in re-recording popular songs. They’re favourites for a reason, and fans that have already spent years or months enjoying a track might balk at it being messed with, possibly losing that indefinable something that made it a winner in the first place. The old adage, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is perfectly sound advice in most situations.

On balance, the new versions of DAWNSLAYER, psychopomp, STRANGE AEONS and SKULLS IN THE STARS are a success though. Most of the changes are subtle, mainly through the addition of beefed up guitars and stronger, well-produced vocals. Think of it as a NECRONOMIDOL live with the full backing Necroma Band. They’ve put some guts into their dark metal sound, which, if anything, has always been closer to the light than the truly dark side. psychopomp has probably had the biggest overhaul, losing its sinister fairy tale style synth-backed intro to go with a mournfully lonesome guitar instead, but the song still exudes a spooky, ethereal atmosphere. Even though this is the fourth time SKULLS IN THE STARS has been released in one form or another since 2015, they manage to keep it sounding fresh and interesting.



NECRONOMIDOL have also brought back songwriters who’ve worked with the group before, including longtime collaborator Hashida Kazuma. Iwanga Azusa, who wrote the Deathless track ITHAQUA makes a return with KADATH, and the regular gang of composers keep that familiar dark metal sound paired with lyrics drenched in doom laden darkness, but still manage to throw in the odd surprise.

Necroma Band member Kei Toriki brings the first new track, thanatogenesis. The song’s clear and serene vocals ring out above the frantic drumming and guitars, and the mismatch is in much the same style as his previous contribution psychopomp.

While they’re usually billed as dark metal, NECRONOMIDOL have always had a strong dose of synthwave in their sound and the SLF!!-penned IN BLACK delivers that in spades with some delightfully gothic organ going on in the background. Vocally, it’s a bit of a switch with the use of spoken word, and it’s sprinkled with the sort of innocent girlish giggling that a demon might try to entice you with to bargain away your soul.

There’s more in this vein with the heavily synth-led Innsmouth from Hashida. It has a strangely vintage 80s Vangelis vibe to it and the sweetly sung vocals contrast with the lyrics, which describe the rot and decay at the heart of Innsmouth, the fictional town of H.P. Lovecraft’s book that fell victim to Cthulu’s Deep Ones. Almost as synth-heavy is les tenebres sans visage. Despite its gloomy title, which translates as ‘the darkness without a face’, and grimly romantic lyrics, it’s the perkiest sounding track on the album.

The joker in the pack is SAMHAIN, a left field entry from Zero-2 of Osaka punk outfit Poikkeus. It throws down a crazed guitar intro, cranking out a nutty ska riff before it calms down into something a little more straightforward. Samhain was the Celtic precursor to modern Halloween and they see the song out with some amusingly ghoulish Halloween lyrics in English. Whether that points to more future use of English in their songs for the international market or it’s just a reflection of Halloween as a recent western cultural import to Japan, who knows, it’s fun all the same.

Another angle of the group’s attack on the international stage comes through French vinyl specialist label Specific Recordings. They’ve released CD, digital and limited edition vinyl versions of NECRONOMIDOL’s previous two albums, Nemesis and Deathless, and now Voidhymn is getting the old school treatment too with a special purple vinyl disc.

The original intention of Voidhymn was to serve as a culmination of the group’s career so far, though it’s been slightly overtaken by recent events with Hina and founding member Sari's graduations in January 2019. Even so, Voidhymn makes a fine swansong for this line-up. A quick listen to the earliest version of SKULLS IN THE STARS compared to Voidhymn’s take on the song will show how the group’s vocals have improved immensely over the years and the strong performances and sharp production on Voidhymn show them at their best. For anyone intrigued by NECRONOMIDOL’s melding of Cthulu-inspired horror, dark metal, pop and synthwave, this album is the perfect jumping on point. Throw yourself into the abyss.

Voidhymn is available from Specific Recordings.