Although rarely heard of outside their homeland, Italy's Necrod**h have been around since 1984, when thrash metal heroes like Slayer and Kreator inspired vocalist Ingo, guitarist Claudio, ba**ist Paolo, and drummer Peso to perpetrate some of their own sonic mayhem. After receiving glowing reviews for their four-track demo, iThe Shining Pentagram/i, the band proceeded to record two now hard-to-find LPs (these being 1987's Into the Macabre and 1989's Fragments of Insanity) that blended old-school speed metal and thrash with the newly popular black metal style pioneered by Venom and Bathory. Unfortunately, record company and business-related problems drove Necrod**h into hibernation for over a decade before Claudio and Peso reconvened the band with new members Flegias (vocals) and John (ba**). Italy's own Scarlet Records snapped them up and, after reissuing both of their 1980s albums on CD for the first time, also released a triplet of follow-ups in Mater of all Evil (2001), Black as Pitch (2002) and Ton(e)s of Hate (2003). All of these showed a more eclectic blend of influences while modernizing the band's post-thrash sound to attend to new-millennium trends. ~ Ed Rivadavia, All Music Guide