NECROCURSE
Country of origin: Sweden
Location: Uddevalla
Status: Active
Formed in: 2004
Genre: Death Metal
Lyrical themes: N/A
Current label: Pulverised Records
Years active: 2004-present
MEMBERS
Johan Bäckman: Bass
See also: ex-Masticator, ex-Runemagick
Nicklas Rudolfsson: Drums
See also: The Funeral Orchestra, Runemagick, ex-Bells of Doom, ex-Masticator, ex-Swordmaster, Domedag, ex-Deathwitch, ex-Sacramentum, ex-Varulv
Stefan Rodin: Guitars
See also: ex-Masticator
Martin "Märda" Andersson: Guitars
See also: Sabotage
Hellbutcher: Vocals
See also: Nifelheim, ex-Pagan Rites, ex-Necronaut (live), ex-Treblinka (live)
THE INTERVIEW
1. Let's start this off by talking about the album. What was the recording process like for Grip Of The Dead? What kind of sound were you going for and do you think you achieved that sound here?
We started recording drums in Sonic Train Studios with Andy La Rocque behind the controls. As references when we set up the drum sound we used Death - Scream Bloody Gore, Iron Maiden - Killers and a few more albums. Then we continued to record guitar, bass and vocals in other smaller studios. Finally, to go back to Sonic Train Studios to mix and mastering.
As for the guitar sound it’s a mix of rather traditional heavy metal distortion and a signal with buzz-dist as Boss HM-2. We mix two sound signals per guitar track. The sound of the bass guitar is probably a fairly normal sound with little distortion. But it really makes its the overall sound. The vocals is recorded with a Shure SM57 microphone which allows to capture the raw sound from the throat of Hellbutcher which can be heard on the album.
2. The sound of Necrocurse is drenched in the most ancient eras of heavy music. I can hear a little bit of Venom, Celtic Frost, Mercyful Fate and Morbid Angel at their most vicious. What bands would you say inspired the sound of Necrocurse?
The members of NECROCURSE are aged between 37-45 years, so we are naturally colored by the bands we listened to (and still listening) from the 80's and 90's. Everything from heavy metal and speed metal to thrash, black and death metal. To mention a few bands like Sarcófago, Coroner, Iron Maiden, Mercyful Fate, (old) Death, Bathory, Judas Priest, Venom, Candlemass, Morbid Angel and so on....
3. When you write the lyrics for an album like this, what do you draw from for inspiration? I've never heard a song called the "The Devil Cobra" before and I have to say that it's track titles like that one that really stick out on the record.
One can say that it is quite traditional death metal lyrics. But some of them are written in metaphors which makes writing a little more interesting.
4. Talk to me about Andy La Roque. What did he add to the mix and master of your album? I've also noticed that you gentlemen took part in the mixing and mastering process for this album, something that you don't see many bands doing these days.
I have worked with him many times on and off over the years. So it was a pretty natural choice to hire Andy and Sonic Train Studios. Partly because it is a good studio but also because he is good to work with and he brings out the sound that you want.
5. One other thing I've noticed about the album, is that it sounds in the vein of the 80's, but has the feel of being a remastered classic. It really sounds like this album was made way back when but also sounds very clean in the mix, giving it the feel of a remaster. Is this what you were going for?
When you ask that way, I probably say yes it was like that! Mainly in view of the references we had during recording that we think sounds really great. We really do not like the modern plastic and edited synth-death-metal sound!
6. What constitutes the instrumental makeup of Necrocurse? What kind of guitars, drums and bass did you gentlemen play on this album? What kind of tuning did you use and how did you make the album sound as classic as it does?
On the album we used,
Guitars: Gibson Flying V (80’s modell), BC Rich Mockingbird (Tuning: B, Sound: signal split to two different distortions)
Bass: Specter (Tuning: B)
Drums: Sonor (Andy’s kit, I normally use Tama and Mapex)
7. What could you credit as being your inspiration to start playing music?
Bands with distortion, speed & heavy riffing and hard band names!
8. You gentlemen have been playing metal in various bands for years now, some of you have been playing in different acts for decades and I'm sure you've seen a lot of acts and trends come and go. What are some things that you guys have learned from sticking it out there in the metal scene so long and do you think that some bands are just too damned serious these days?
We do not care so much what is happening around. Trends come and trends go. The most important thing is that you like and believe in what you do.
9. Hellbutcher, your approach on vocals is something that reminds me of black thrash in the vein of Destroyer 666 and Impiety for example. It's a killer approach on an album that wouldn't have hit hard with something more in the gravelly vein of Grave for example. Who would you say that your vocal influences on this album are?
(not answered by Hellbutcher)
The voice is a very important part of the sound of NECROCURSE. The voice makes a large part of the raw sound that we have.
10. You put out several EP's before finally releasing this debut album in 2013. Were you putting those out there just to test the waters and see how the reaction o the material was going to be? And from doing all of those short EP's how did you approach doing a full length?
We recorded five songs in early 2010 and after contact with Aftermath Music resulted in two 7 "vinyls and later a shaped MCD. It was just great that someone liked it and want to release the shit, so to speak. In 2011, we received several offers to write a full album contract and we decided on Pulverised Records.
11. Since many of you also play in other bands, are there any upcoming projects you'd like to talk about?
Hellbutcher & Nifelheim doing a tour in May. I (Nicklas “Terror”) are working on some other projects. But besides that we are working on new NECROCURSE material.
12. Let's talk about the live shows. I've seen some stills in the album art and of course the band image on the back cover and have to say that I find it impressive. You guys really do match the type of metal that you play and I think that image is very important these days, with a lot of other people just wearing band shirts and calling it a day. In the live shows, you see to go all out and really embrace the image which not only enhances the music, but makes the performance exciting as hell to watch. How important do you think a good band performance is these days?
I guess it's pretty important. But it's not like we're playing theater on stage. We play in action and enjoy what we do and I think it is reflected in the performance.
13. In your tenure of playing with different bands on stage, what are some of the most awesome experiences and some of the most shitty experiences that you've ever had while on the road?
The best part is when the band is good on stage and get good response from the audience. Audience repsons is clearly the most important. More important than good stage sound etc.
A really bad memory was a gig fairly recently. When the intro was over and the first song began at full of adrenaline, one of the drum pedals breaking 5 seconds in the song = 5 minutes until the gig can go on, SHIT!!!
14. Finally, what do you think of the metal scene today? What bands do you think are really strong out there? What do you think of the whole digital music scene that we have today?
The scene is probably as it always has been, a bunch of great bands and lot of bad hahaha. Hope NECROCURSE not among the bad. As for the digital distribution then just accept that there is a channel for music. Obviously not as hard as vinyl. But that is the situation.
Thanks for your answers gentlemen and the album's fucking fantastic. I definitely hope that you'll continue to make classic metal in this vein, we need more of it!
THANKS!!!!!
Mvh / Best regards
Location: Uddevalla
Status: Active
Formed in: 2004
Genre: Death Metal
Lyrical themes: N/A
Current label: Pulverised Records
Years active: 2004-present
MEMBERS
Johan Bäckman: Bass
See also: ex-Masticator, ex-Runemagick
Nicklas Rudolfsson: Drums
See also: The Funeral Orchestra, Runemagick, ex-Bells of Doom, ex-Masticator, ex-Swordmaster, Domedag, ex-Deathwitch, ex-Sacramentum, ex-Varulv
Stefan Rodin: Guitars
See also: ex-Masticator
Martin "Märda" Andersson: Guitars
See also: Sabotage
Hellbutcher: Vocals
See also: Nifelheim, ex-Pagan Rites, ex-Necronaut (live), ex-Treblinka (live)
THE INTERVIEW
1. Let's start this off by talking about the album. What was the recording process like for Grip Of The Dead? What kind of sound were you going for and do you think you achieved that sound here?
We started recording drums in Sonic Train Studios with Andy La Rocque behind the controls. As references when we set up the drum sound we used Death - Scream Bloody Gore, Iron Maiden - Killers and a few more albums. Then we continued to record guitar, bass and vocals in other smaller studios. Finally, to go back to Sonic Train Studios to mix and mastering.
As for the guitar sound it’s a mix of rather traditional heavy metal distortion and a signal with buzz-dist as Boss HM-2. We mix two sound signals per guitar track. The sound of the bass guitar is probably a fairly normal sound with little distortion. But it really makes its the overall sound. The vocals is recorded with a Shure SM57 microphone which allows to capture the raw sound from the throat of Hellbutcher which can be heard on the album.
2. The sound of Necrocurse is drenched in the most ancient eras of heavy music. I can hear a little bit of Venom, Celtic Frost, Mercyful Fate and Morbid Angel at their most vicious. What bands would you say inspired the sound of Necrocurse?
The members of NECROCURSE are aged between 37-45 years, so we are naturally colored by the bands we listened to (and still listening) from the 80's and 90's. Everything from heavy metal and speed metal to thrash, black and death metal. To mention a few bands like Sarcófago, Coroner, Iron Maiden, Mercyful Fate, (old) Death, Bathory, Judas Priest, Venom, Candlemass, Morbid Angel and so on....
3. When you write the lyrics for an album like this, what do you draw from for inspiration? I've never heard a song called the "The Devil Cobra" before and I have to say that it's track titles like that one that really stick out on the record.
One can say that it is quite traditional death metal lyrics. But some of them are written in metaphors which makes writing a little more interesting.
4. Talk to me about Andy La Roque. What did he add to the mix and master of your album? I've also noticed that you gentlemen took part in the mixing and mastering process for this album, something that you don't see many bands doing these days.
I have worked with him many times on and off over the years. So it was a pretty natural choice to hire Andy and Sonic Train Studios. Partly because it is a good studio but also because he is good to work with and he brings out the sound that you want.
5. One other thing I've noticed about the album, is that it sounds in the vein of the 80's, but has the feel of being a remastered classic. It really sounds like this album was made way back when but also sounds very clean in the mix, giving it the feel of a remaster. Is this what you were going for?
When you ask that way, I probably say yes it was like that! Mainly in view of the references we had during recording that we think sounds really great. We really do not like the modern plastic and edited synth-death-metal sound!
6. What constitutes the instrumental makeup of Necrocurse? What kind of guitars, drums and bass did you gentlemen play on this album? What kind of tuning did you use and how did you make the album sound as classic as it does?
On the album we used,
Guitars: Gibson Flying V (80’s modell), BC Rich Mockingbird (Tuning: B, Sound: signal split to two different distortions)
Bass: Specter (Tuning: B)
Drums: Sonor (Andy’s kit, I normally use Tama and Mapex)
7. What could you credit as being your inspiration to start playing music?
Bands with distortion, speed & heavy riffing and hard band names!
8. You gentlemen have been playing metal in various bands for years now, some of you have been playing in different acts for decades and I'm sure you've seen a lot of acts and trends come and go. What are some things that you guys have learned from sticking it out there in the metal scene so long and do you think that some bands are just too damned serious these days?
We do not care so much what is happening around. Trends come and trends go. The most important thing is that you like and believe in what you do.
9. Hellbutcher, your approach on vocals is something that reminds me of black thrash in the vein of Destroyer 666 and Impiety for example. It's a killer approach on an album that wouldn't have hit hard with something more in the gravelly vein of Grave for example. Who would you say that your vocal influences on this album are?
(not answered by Hellbutcher)
The voice is a very important part of the sound of NECROCURSE. The voice makes a large part of the raw sound that we have.
10. You put out several EP's before finally releasing this debut album in 2013. Were you putting those out there just to test the waters and see how the reaction o the material was going to be? And from doing all of those short EP's how did you approach doing a full length?
We recorded five songs in early 2010 and after contact with Aftermath Music resulted in two 7 "vinyls and later a shaped MCD. It was just great that someone liked it and want to release the shit, so to speak. In 2011, we received several offers to write a full album contract and we decided on Pulverised Records.
11. Since many of you also play in other bands, are there any upcoming projects you'd like to talk about?
Hellbutcher & Nifelheim doing a tour in May. I (Nicklas “Terror”) are working on some other projects. But besides that we are working on new NECROCURSE material.
12. Let's talk about the live shows. I've seen some stills in the album art and of course the band image on the back cover and have to say that I find it impressive. You guys really do match the type of metal that you play and I think that image is very important these days, with a lot of other people just wearing band shirts and calling it a day. In the live shows, you see to go all out and really embrace the image which not only enhances the music, but makes the performance exciting as hell to watch. How important do you think a good band performance is these days?
I guess it's pretty important. But it's not like we're playing theater on stage. We play in action and enjoy what we do and I think it is reflected in the performance.
13. In your tenure of playing with different bands on stage, what are some of the most awesome experiences and some of the most shitty experiences that you've ever had while on the road?
The best part is when the band is good on stage and get good response from the audience. Audience repsons is clearly the most important. More important than good stage sound etc.
A really bad memory was a gig fairly recently. When the intro was over and the first song began at full of adrenaline, one of the drum pedals breaking 5 seconds in the song = 5 minutes until the gig can go on, SHIT!!!
14. Finally, what do you think of the metal scene today? What bands do you think are really strong out there? What do you think of the whole digital music scene that we have today?
The scene is probably as it always has been, a bunch of great bands and lot of bad hahaha. Hope NECROCURSE not among the bad. As for the digital distribution then just accept that there is a channel for music. Obviously not as hard as vinyl. But that is the situation.
Thanks for your answers gentlemen and the album's fucking fantastic. I definitely hope that you'll continue to make classic metal in this vein, we need more of it!
THANKS!!!!!
Mvh / Best regards
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