It was a day like any other at the AMG water cooler when someone mentioned that Necrosexual would be releasing a new album. Ha, I should have done that to myself. I vaguely remembered having reviewed the debut album Grim1 by the Philadelphia band in 2018, to which I gave a 1.5 for the sloppy execution and middling production.
Maybe I expected too much from a band led by singer, guitarist and bassist “The Necrosexual,” whose main claim to fame was giving interviews for Metal Injection and MetalSucks dressed in corpse paint. Let someone else take their new album, I thought. I’m sure someone will be tempted by that band name. But the week wore on, and Road to Rubble sat in the promo bin like a washed-out quarter on the office toilet bench. Somewhere in my heart, I felt it had to be covered, and before I knew it, I’d assigned it to myself. That artwork with the colored vomit is certainly worse than the first album’s cover (which was already pretty bad), but given that Necrosexual took eight years to release this second album, maybe it was worth daring?
Stylistically, not much has changed from Grim1. Necrosexual still play a comedic, sleazy form of blackened punk-thrash that sounds like a more indecent version of early Celtic Frost or a PG-13 version of Shitfucker. On tracks like the opening song, “High Times in Hell,” the band offers loud, confident riffs over loud mid-tempo drums, while Necrosexual emit their sneering roar. Some tracks also include brief incursions into genuine black metal, with frozen riffs backed by blast beats. In a move vaguely reminiscent of Devil Master, much of the album also includes shimmering synth lines in the background, an effect that makes the second track, “The Brimstone Brothel,” sound like a carnival ride from hell inspired by Venom.
Despite my complaints about Grim1, variety wasn’t one of them, and Road to Rubble features a similar level of variety with a much higher level of quality. “Kiss the Knife” stands out with its catchy, ominous lyrics that include the track title sung in a King Diamond-style falsetto, while the simpler “Lubricator” sounds like an alternative version of Morbid Tales where the dethroned emperor has become a sex slave. As the album moves into its final third, things get more rock, with tempos slowing, leads getting flashier and vocals getting more adventurous. “Damned Romance,” for instance, is like a blackened ’80s cock rock anthem that peaks with a chorus of deep, melodic clean parts impossible not to sing along to. The closer, “Hard Leather Woman,” emits a similar vibe while reminding me of Midnight with its rough, semi-clean vocals.
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If there’s any complaint I have about Road to Rubble, it’s that stacking so many slower songs in the second half of the album saps a little of the energy generated by the faster songs earlier on the record. By the time I reach the eighth of these nine tracks, hearing another slow song like “Nocturnal Ignition” isn’t going to give me a nocturnal emission anytime soon. Fortunately, the excellent production outweighs this complaint, with the guitars sounding full and lively, and the overall sound having a slightly raw hue, while everything is well balanced. The guitar solos are plentiful, colorful and rock, and the band sounds like they’re enjoying themselves throughout these 35 minutes.
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Coming back to Necrosexual with Road to Rubble, at first I wasn’t sure if my taste had gotten worse or the band had improved. It turned out to be a bit of the first and a lot of the second. With this album, the band maintained their tendency toward variety while stepping things up in every respect, with better songs, better performances and better production. Beyond all that, this album is incredibly lovable, with a genuine, fun and strangely timeless quality that makes Necrosexual sound like a band you both want to listen to and support. For those who don’t mind a little humor and playful style in their blackened thrash, I’d say it’s worth a visit .
Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format rating: PCM
Label: Black Metal Archives
Websites: necrosexual.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/grimmestofalltime
Releases worldwide: February 27, 2026
The review was done by Angry metal guy.
