''The Codex Necro'' is the first studio album by British

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

band

Anaal Nathrakh Anaal Nathrakh are a British extreme metal band formed in 1999 in Birmingham by multi-instrumentalist Mick Kenney and vocalist Dave Hunt. They are currently signed to Metal Blade Records. The band's name is Irish for ''snake's breath'' ( anál ...

. It was released on 22 November 2001. The album was re-released on 24 April 2006, with four additional bonus tracks taken from the John Peel BBC Radio One Session broadcast on 16 December 2003.Anaal Nathrakh Are '70 Percent Done' Recording New Album
It was again re-released in 2009, with four additional bonus tracks taken from the ''We Will Fucking Kill You'' demo.

Background

The person being Asphyxia, suffocated on the album cover is Mick Kenney's younger brother. The album features sound samples from films such as ''

Event Horizon In astrophysics, an event horizon is a boundary beyond which events cannot affect an observer. Wolfgang Rindler coined the term in the 1950s. In 1784, John Michell proposed that gravity can be strong enough in the vicinity of massive compact obj ...

'', ''

Excalibur Excalibur () is the legendary sword of King Arthur, sometimes also attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. It was associated with the Arthurian legend very early on. Excalibur and the Sword in th ...

'', ''

The Legend of Hell House ''The Legend of Hell House'' is a 1973 supernatural horror film directed by John Hough, and starring Pamela Franklin, Roddy McDowall, Clive Revill, and Gayle Hunnicutt. It follows a group of researchers who spend a week in the former home of a ...

'', '' Omen III: The Final Conflict'' and ''

Platoon A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two or more squads, sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the branch, but a platoon can be composed of 50 people, although specific platoons may range ...

''. The 2006 re-release features the first ever live performance of "The Oblivion Gene", later to appear in its full re-recorded form on the subsequent album ''

Domine Non Es Dignus ''Domine Non Es Dignus'' is the second studio album by British extreme metal group Anaal Nathrakh. It was released on 2 November 2004. The title translates to "Lord, you are not worthy" in Latin. Background The title "Rage, Rage Against the Dyin ...

''. The title "Human, All Too Fucking Human" is a reference to

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...

's philosophical text ''

Human, All Too Human ''Human, All Too Human: A Book for Free Spirits'' (german: Menschliches, Allzumenschliches: Ein Buch für freie Geister) is a book by 19th-century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, originally published in 1878. A second part, ''Assorted Opinions a ...

'' (''Menschliches, Allzumenschliches'', 1878).

Reception

Upon its release, ''The Codex Necro'' received positive reviews and numerous "album of the month" awards from various publications, and in 2009 and 2010 appeared in several notable "albums of the decade" lists, such as the Terrorizer Critics' "Albums of the Decade",

Decibel The decibel (symbol: dB) is a relative unit of measurement equal to one tenth of a bel (B). It expresses the ratio of two values of a power or root-power quantity on a logarithmic scale. Two signals whose levels differ by one decibel have a po ...

magazine's "100 Albums of the Decade", and "The Decade's Best Metal" on avclub.com.

Track listing

Personnel

* V.I.T.R.I.O.L. –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

* Irrumator – all instruments

Production

*Anaal Nathrakh – arrangement,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

, recording,

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

audio mixing Audio mixing is the process by which multiple sounds are combined into one or more channels. In the process, a source's volume level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated or enhanced. This practical, aesthetic, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Codex Necro 2001 debut albums Anaal Nathrakh albums Earache Records albums