Hello, how are you doing today?
Vlad: Infernal hails ! Here everything is about hell, as our second album will be released next month !
Necrowretch was formed in 2008,Can you give me a brief history of how the band got together?Had you been in any bands or musical apparition before Necrowretch?
Vlad: I started as a one man band in early 2008, then Blastphemator joined on drums in late 2008, we recorded the first demo in 2009 (Rising From Purulence - AVR Records) then Amphycion joined the band to play the bass, we played our first shows and recorded a second demo (Necrollections - Aural Offerings Records). With this demo we gained attention from the underground and we played the first shows outside France, then we signed with the now defunct label Detest Records and then the first EP was released (Putrefactive Infestation). After this, EP Blastphemator wasn’t motivated anymore so he left the band. After a second EP in 2012 (Now You’re In Hell) we inked deal with Century Media Records. With many different session drummers from 2011 to 2013, we played many shows in Europe and recorded our first album (Putrid Death Sorcery) which was released in early 2013. Then, Ilmar (Ex-Bloody Sign) joined the band as a permanent drummer and we recorded the third EP (Even Death May Die) and the second album (With Serpents Scourge). For now, Necrowretch is my first and only band.
3. what bands inspired the direction that Necrowretch took and motivated you? Writers? Visual artists? Movies? Books?
Vlad: Many disgusting bands such as the old Death, old Sepultura, Dismember, Autopsy, Nihilist, Repugnant, Carcass, Anal Vomit… Every movie or book related to something horrible and beyond death, such as Dawn of the Dead or The Beyond...
4. There are two basic ways of looking at music. In the first, there is a mechanism to the arrangement of certain tones ,musical style.in the second, a narration occurs where a story is told or a poetic function completed. In your view of compositions, which is more important? Where were you when you first thought the project had longterm potential for you?
Vlad: The more important for me is the feeling. If the music talks about death, then you have to feel it in the music ! You need to be shocked, to be scared, to be caught in the universe created by the music and to identify yourself in it. I’m an autodidact on the guitar so I don’t know anything about the “school way” to play music, I just find riffs that make me feel something, and more riffs come to finally complete a song. I didn’t thought about a longterm career at the beginning of the band, it was just playing the music I liked, and with time it became bigger and bigger.
5. What for you is the significance of the name, “Necrowretch”?
Vlad: The first image that comes to me is one of a miserable man pleading for mercy, and slowly turning into an undead monster. Necrowretch is the conception that something poor and miserable can become something even uglier and disgusting that the devil itself. It’s also a good and memorable name for a band.
6. If you could tour with other bands in metal, who would you pick if you were looking for bands similar to Necrowretch?
Vlad: Anal Vomit, Impiety or Marduk ahaha ! It would be a killer package !
7. From 2008 in each and every year Necrowretch released albums,demos,EPs,Split,compilation etc and shaped the style of music.How do you maintain this consistency yet keep developing with each album? How do you write your riffs,songs?What is the most difficult part about composing songs as you do?
Vlad: It’s like a big indigestion of extreme metal. I listen everyday to more and more extreme bands from all around the world, and I find great ideas in each of them. When comes the time of composition, I puke out all the things that dwells into my mind and I try to use this to create something infernal. Something difficult is that I always push the limits to make something possessed, with more speed and bestiality at each release. There are some bands who begin to play more slowly by the time, but that is absolutely not the case of Necrowretch !
8. Do you have a preference for type of equipment? In your mind, how important is equipment to the production of music?
Vlad: I’m not really aware of all the equipment, I only have one guitar (Ibanez Destroyer) which sounds very good and I’m satisfied with it. On each show, I play on a different amp and most of the time it sounds killer, so for now there is no need to search for something better. The most important is not the gear that you use, but what you’re playing with your gear. I would rather prefer a band that plays good with a shitty sound than a band that plays shit with a good sound (and there are many in this case !).
9.well,now I’m going to the main point about new album.on 16th February,2015 Necrowretch new album “With Serpents Scourge” will release and already unleashed a new track entitled “Feast off their doom” which sounds extremely promising. When were these tracks written, and how does Necrowretch go about the writing process?
Vlad: All the songs were written by me between 2012 and 2014, but I don’t remember in which order exactly. In early 2014, I presented a demo version of the songs to the other members of the band. Then, everyone started to learn his part and in late June we entered the studio to record the album. Since many years, that’s kind of always the same process for composition, maybe we’ll change it in the future but for now we’re satisfied by working this way.
10. What's going on as far as lyrical themes on “With Serpents Scourge”?
Vlad: It takes place in the beginning of the middle age in Europe, just after the fall of the roman empire. But instead of a Christian world, the devil is defiling every mortal soul and christianity falls into ruins. All mankind now embrace the cult of the beast. It’s a kind of critic to mankind, because they can very quickly move from one god to another.
11.I’ve noticed Necrowretch musical style reminds late 80’s/early 90’s death metal with the low-pitched screams of mid-80's thrash segments laced with old school black metal influence would you agree with this?
Vlad: Yeah probably something like this ! I’m not really concerned about which genre the people will tag us in. As our influences are from bands like Mortem, Sarcofago, Marduk, Disssection, Anal Vomit, Merciless, Dismember, Grotesque… Then we’re probably somewhere between black and death metal.
12.I’ve categorized Necrowretch’s genre is Putrid Death metal.so, How did you get into this style of music and explain about this very rare known music genre?
Vlad: I’m kinda bored of all the “old school death metal” bands trend. There are so many bands playing in the vein of Entombed and Grave that is just a nonsense now. As we don’t have anything to do with all those new bands which play old, then we’ve tagged ourselves as Putrid Death Metal, so no one will claim that we play the same thing than another.
13.How would you describe the sound of the new album to someone who hadn’t heard it, and what distinguishes your music from any other act in the same genre?
Vlad: Possessed by evil and beyond ! Necrowretch only goal is to unleash hell to the listener, we don’t care about pose or being famous or being underground or any shit. What we want : destruction, what we play : destruction ! If you eat something very spicy it’s because you want to taste something very spicy, if you listen to Necrowretch it’s because you want something extreme, speed and bestial as hell !
14. Do you guys have any official videos coming out soon?
Vlad: Not this time I think, we were really busy with the new album and we didn’t had the time to shoot a video, but this will maybe happen in the future if we get enough live videos.
15. How do you explain the album title, what it means and the album art and how it coincides with the lyrics,themes?
Vlad: … And will be beaten by 39 snakes with a venom 39 times more poisonous than the common one. Maybe some will recognize what this is about. With Serpents Scourge is when the poison from hell can corrupt enough the heart of men to make them destroy their divinity. If you look well at the artwork, you will find elements of the lyrics.
16. Who came up with the album cover? I personally cherish Necrowretch’s each and every album artwork because those are truly indelible,remarkable,appreciable too.
Vlad: All the artworks, logos, shirt designs and imagery of the band are made by Milovan Novakovic. He’s very involved in the curse of the band and he also makes a lot of other arts for many bands.
17. What's the first gig you ever went to? Have you been to any killer live shows lately?
Vlad: It was in Wacken 2006, there was a lot of bands and the show of Morbid Angel was fucking killer ! The last great show that I’ve enjoyed a lot was Hexecutor (France thrash metal, check them out) and Incarceration in Party San 2014 (Death metal from Germany).
18. In before you guys performed a lots of gigs so, Which show was the most memorable to you so far? Do you get a good crowd response? Did you get offers to play in other countries or anything like that?
Vlad: Our show in Kill Town Death Fest (Denmark) in 2010 remains a great memory because it was our first show outside of France and we were very well welcomed. I can also evoke many great gigs in Germany and especially in Belgium. We’ll soon announce more dates for 2015, all the infos will be on the facebook page of the band and on the website.
19. Do you study other bands music to come up with ideas?
Vlad: Yes for sure, it’s always great to see how each band create a song, because you have many many way to do extreme metal. I give a particular ear to the bands from South America and South East Asia because there is often a lot of aggressivity in their music.
20. Your vocals style is raspy, aggressive,raw and tortured .appreciate your vocal style.how do you prepare your vocals before the studio or especially for live performances? Did any band in particular inspire you in the shrieking department?
Vlad: I never prepare my vocals, but maybe I should start to do it ahahaha. Those vocals were inspired by the Dismember and Unleashed demos where the singer (Robert Sennback) uses a lot of delay on harsh vocals, that is clearly the sound of death that I like. With time, I’ve learned how to use my vocals in different tones, but the main intention is always to put out the most hateful scream at each damn word of the song.
21. Is there a difference in the band’s sound as compared to the EPs and demos you’ve released in the past?
Vlad: Yes, the production is way better on the album than the demos and EP, thanks to Century Media, we’ve accessed the better studios and mastering that our music deserves.
22. Century Media Records has been a great supporter of extreme metal, especially old-school extreme metal. So it’s nice to see that you’re signed to them now. How did this happen?
Vlad: Our former label (Detest Records) owner was close to Century Media, and he was aware that Century Media was interested in Necrowretch. He worked with Century Media in order to make a good transition for us. At that time, it was really unexpected for us, but with the years we’ve started to know each other with the Century Media team and we’re very glad to work with them.
23. you guys are from France, how much have you discovered about the French extreme metal scene and how much of it were you aware of before Necrowretch started?
Vlad: I don’t know if you can really talk about a french extreme metal scene, apart from the 90’s bands (MASSACRA, AGRESSOR, MERCYLESS, MUTILATED) there isn’t so much extreme bands. But you definitely need to check out those new evil acts : RITUALIZATION, PERVERSIFIER, CADAVERIC FUMES, HEXECUTOR...
24. There is some satanic imagery with your lyrics,logo and wearing inverted crosses. Is this just an image or something you believe in?
Vlad: It’s something that our music believes in rather than the band members. We wish to deliver evil and extreme music, so of course it will deal with satanic imagery. I don’t make dark rituals or things like this, but I wish that christianity can be eradicated from the world, and I use my music to express this.
25. What do you do as individual band members to relax, when not working on music? Do you have jobs or business?
Vlad: To relax ? Well, drink a cold beer ! We’re all working and living in different places of France, so we don’t really see each other apart of the rehearsals of shows, but thanks to the internet we’re always in touch to talk about the band.
26. What albums are you listening to lately or just the bands and albums in general you're really digging right now and tell me about your anticipated album of this year?
Vlad: Those days I’m listening to MORTEM (De Natura Daemonum), IMPIETY (The Impious Crusade) and BESTIAL HOLOCAUST (Temple of Perdition).
27.last one question,what are your future band goals & tell us something about upcoming tour. Lastly, a lots of teenagers aim to be full-time musicians. Many of them might be without any proper guidance, any words of wisdom for them?
Vlad: We wish to share our music everywhere in the world and bring everyone to a fucking infernal show. Maybe it will happen in your town in the future, only time will tell. I don’t really have any words of wisdom, but I would say “don’t care what people say and just play the music that you wish to play”.
28. That's all I've got right now.best of luck for upcoming release “With Serpents Scourge”.this album is one of my anticipated release of this year.thanks a lot for enduring this torture haha. Any final thoughts,comments for the readers? If I forgot anything, please insert it in here.
Vlad: A big thanks for the interview and your interest in the band. With Serpents Scourge will be released soon : prepare yourself for horrible doom !!!!
