Vomitron – NESessary Evil (2016)

Video games and Metal are the two things we love the most over at Infernal Masquerade and when combined, life can’t get any better. Vomitron’s triumphal return delivers over 60 minutes of superb instrumental music which brings to life several video game themes that will make you dust off your NES console and relive your childhood. With “NESessary Evil” this one-man band positions itself as the finest Video Game Metal outfit in the world.

Opening with the music of Rare’s classic “Wizards & Warriors”, the album instantly transports the listener to simpler days of spending your evening doing homework as quick as possible to start playing video games until bed time. Next up we have a part one of a great rendition of the music from “Metroid” filled with dramatic guitar leads and funky keyboards that closely resemble the original 8-bit, but take it to a whole new level of detail and creativity.

The album continues to bring back memories (and great frustrations) via part one of the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” music. This song is very nicely crafted with all its quirks and it features great tempo changes. As a stand-alone track we have “Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest”, which is an impressive Power Metal-esque epic filled with intricate guitars and very dramatic atmospheric content… just like the game.

The last track to be divided in two pieces is the music from “Bionic Commando” another classic game that was ported to NES in a considerably differently way than the original arcade game, but regardless the music sounds great with the Vomitron treatment. As the album passes the half-way mark we start having the part two of tracks like “Metroid” and “TNMT” which nicely deliver the musical climax built up in the first part. “TNMT” part two starts off with some very interesting riffs that reminded us of Erik Rutan’s project Alas.

Saving the best for last, the album closes with the track “Mega Man” one of our favorite games and Vomitron’s re-interpretation makes it even more amazing and engaging. Overall, Vomitron’s mastermind Pete Rutcho does a great job in bringing into the Metal world all the music from these classic video games in a very dignified and creative way. All the instrumentation is top notch and every single detail of the original music is perfectly captured in this release. This is a must have release for any self-respecting Metal-lover gamer.

Label: Metavania Records

Release: November 7th, 2016

Genre: Instrumental / Video Game Metal

Country: USA