Necrot: Into the Labyrinth of Self
The year is 2017. The new wave old-school death metal is in full swing. Future world-beaters GATECREEPER and BLOOD INCANTATION have already released their debut albums to incredible reception, as have underground favourites TOMB MOLD, WITCH VOMIT and CHTHE’ILIST, while ULTHAR and OUTER HEAVEN have dropped demos that show signs of greatness to come. But there’s something else brewing. In the middle of a blazing hot summer, Oakland ragers NECROT unveiled Blood Offerings, their stunning debut and a statement of intent to conquer the modern death metal scene. Fast forward three years and the trio are well on their way to world domination, certain that though Blood Offerings was an incredibly strong first record, their newest, Mortal, is a different beast entirely.
“With Blood Offerings, people were very surprised about how good it was because we were just a band that had released a few demos and done a few underground tours – we had a following but it was really just in the underground.” Explains Luca Indrio, NECROT’s front mam, one the initial success of Blood Offerings before explaining how important it is they top their debut with Mortal. “Now we have Mortal, I can already tell people are feeling the same excitement and surprise which is a big step for us. With Blood Offerings we were trying to do better than our demos – with Mortal, we’ve done better than an album that has already done well.”
Blood Offerings seemed to come out of nowhere. A band with as few demos to their name, really, had no right to drop a debut album that would go on to take the whole death metal world by storm. But Luca explains that NECROT played the long game with their debut – a result that has, in turn, led to Mortal being an incredibly strong album itself and sets up NECROT as one of the top bands in the modern death metal scene.
“Our debut came out after NECROT existed for six years. We released three demo tapes and toured a lot, so by the time we got to release Blood Offerings we had already been around for a long time – we weren’t just a band that started six months ago, wrote a few songs then rushed a full-length. You need to get good enough before you release anything.”
But while their debut was a blast of punk-infused old-school death metal, this time around NECROT have evolved. Mortal is heavier, hits harder, and sees much of the punk influence stripped back in favour of a purer death metal assault. As Luca explains, this was a deliberate move that came from the band growing as musicians over the Blood Offerings cycle.
“Between Blood Offerings and Mortal, we played over a hundred shows a year for three years. We got tighter, more confident and we got so much better as musicians. I knew I wanted more guitar parts, more guitar solos and I wanted to sound as close as possible to my idea of a classic death metal album. Coming from Blood Offerings we had the chance to see what we liked, and what we wanted to drop. We had the chance to build on our strengths.”
Despite the punk influences that were omnipresent through the early demos of NECROT and Blood Offerings, there’s no denying that the power-trio fall firmly in the new wave of old-school death metal – the movement that has risen to prominence over the course of the 2010s, embracing the visceral, classic style of death metal harnessed by the genre’s pioneers. But with the boundless possibilities in the genre at the moment, what drew Luca and co to this particular style of death metal?
“For me, it’s always been the rawness of old-school death metal. It’s punk, it’s direct, it’s how metal used to be before it became super technical. In the beginning, death metal was like a mix of VENOM and a crust punk band!” He explains. “I see death metal as the purest essence of metal. Death metal is the perfect soundtrack to the world we live in. I love death metal that is more philosophical, and dealing with the horror of being alive. Some bands just talk about murder and rape and violence, subjects that sound like a horror music. But some of the reason why people love horror movies is because they’re funny – the real horror lies in real things we all have to go through… The lyrical content together with the music is what makes death metal complete.”
There’s no denying that Mortal surpasses all expectations. Stripping back the punky simplicity in favour of a rawer, more complex, purer death metal assault, NECROT have taken the formula of Blood Offerings and grown it to a different level entirely. If there was any doubt of NECROT’s place at the top of the old-school death metal revival, Mortal dashes those doubts upon first listen. Brutalisingly heavy, deeply philosophical, kick back and relax as Luca and co. take you on a terrifying journey into the labyrinth of self.
Mortal is out now via Tankcrimes.
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