interview: Necrocosm

This death metal band from North Carolina, USA has their complete debut album available at Bandcamp and there you can hear it and support the band if you like what you hear. What will you hear? You’ll get an independent album of technical-melodic death metal called Damnation Doctrine and it’s no-nonsense straight dedication metal. Do you want headbanging metal from a band that thinks like you do? No hipster and no emo and no post punk going on here, just metal music the way that Doctor Rock ordered: “They've got the medicine you need. They've got the power, they've got the speed.” Stand up straight!

Hi. How’s your band doing in North Carolina?

We're doing pretty well here right now. Our debut album was released September last year, and we only pressed 100 CD's, but we sold them all in a few months and mostly to locals. We played our "biggest" show yet a couple weeks back, opening a one-off date in Raleigh for Napalm Death!

Who is answering this interview? What are the origins of the band?

I'm Kevin, founding guitarist and songwriter. Necrocosm started after our previous band folded in fall 2011. Our drummer Adam, ex-bassist Cisco, and myself remained, and we wanted to go in a darker, heavier direction than the previous band which was mainly modern thrash. At the time I didn't have any original material ready other than a couple riffs ha ha so I had to start writing some stuff quickly! We played just cover songs initially until the first song was completed, which became Force Fed Progeny. Later in 2012 the first 6 songs were ready, and we finally completed the lineup with Brent on rhythm guitar, and Zach on vocals. In summer of 2013 we played our first live show. Interestingly enough it was at the same club where we played our last show in the old band!

Where does your music come from?

The first influences were the classic Gothenburg melodic death metal bands of the 90s. But over time we developed our sound a little bit more, and you can also hear elements of black metal, thrash, and some technical and brutal death elements in the newest songs. We just play what comes naturally to us. Hopefully people think that is kickass death metal.

How many recordings do you have? Where do you record your music? What should a new listener expect from Necrocosm?

Damnation Doctrine is our debut full-length album. We recorded ten songs with the go-to metal producer in the area: Jamie King, at Basement Recording Studio in Winston-Salem, NC. You might be familiar with his excellent work on albums from BTBAM, Wretched, Abiotic, and many more. The recording spanned two weekend sessions in October 2014 and May 2015. The long wait in between sessions was due to the studio's schedule being blocked off by one or more of those big bands I listed above haha. Also, we originally set out to record just a 6 song ep. But it was sounding so damned good we figured it'd be better to do a full album instead. On Damnation Doctrine the listener can expect a relentlessly aggressive, modern, brutal, yet still melodic take on death metal performed by hard working guys doing it strictly for the love of it. No clean vocals, no breakdowns, no electronic elements. Nothing but 100% pure metal.

You may stream the album or buy it and merch at Bandcamp.

How did you become involved in a band in North Carolina?

I picked up the guitar as a teenaged skate punker in the 90's haha. But I didn't take learning it seriously until the early 2000's when I had rediscovered my love for metal after being stationed in Japan for two years. I'm originally from South Florida, and after I left the military I tried to find people back home to jam with, but to no avail. It wasn't until a few months after I moved up to NC for work that I found a band to join. North Carolina has a small but loyal metal scene. We're by no means NYC or LA, but we hold our own. If you work hard and play good music the word will spread and your crowd will grow.

What can metal supporters do to help your cause?

Support means more than it ever has these days. Especially to small time unknown, unsigned bands like Necrocosm. The music industry is dying more each day. Luckily metal fans are more loyal and supportive compared to other genres. If you hear a band you like, go to a show! Yes, you can download everything for free on the Internet, but buy the cd and/or vinyl if you like what you hear. Pick up a shirt or two and most of all spread the word! It's tougher than ever to get the word out. There's many amazing bands out there struggling without any support from record labels, but few people know about them.

Will you be touring?

No active plans yet for touring. We're not exactly in much demand anywhere outside Raleigh. But we did get a warm reception our first time in Virginia a couple months back. We try to play out locally at least once every one or two months. Even though the album just came out 7 months ago, we've already got 3+ new songs ready and we're anxious to complete writing the second album. Especially now that we have a new second lead guitarist in Joel, who replaced Brent earlier this year. He already delivered his first song and it's a banger.

Some people have remarked that there are no financial rewards for metal bands in the music industry. Is that true for you?

I'd say that is a very fair statement. Don't get us wrong, we didn't ever get into playing extreme metal for the money lol. But yes, the lack of financial support definitely has its effects on small unsigned struggling bands like us. And having to work the daily 9-5 leaves less time to focus on music. However, almost everyone but the biggest bands has the same struggle. Nonetheless we are ever dedicated to our craft because that is what we do. We take music extremely seriously; people can do 10000 other things than go to one of our shows. So in case they do decide to see us play, we're not going to waste their time or ours playing some half-assed wank metal. We want to deliver a performance that's going to blow their heads off!

How does life in North Carolina shape your view of your music and also your lyrics?

Playing extreme death metal, you can rightfully imagine we cover lyrical topics that often delve into themes of the fantastical, other worldly, sci-fi, anti religious, and anti human. People are mostly a disgusting, selfish, and inherently evil species, so we have unending lyrical inspiration from them. North Carolina so far hasn't played much into our lyrical inspiration, but the current governor looks like he wants to push his ignorant religious views onto the whole population (House Bill 2, and more) so that may change.

Do you have other news?

Look out for these kickass 360 degree performance videos coming soon from our opening set at the Napalm Death show! ReverbNation filmed us with this crazy 360 camera contraption. You can see WBS on YouTube right now, and the others hopefully soon. One of which is our newest, most technical song yet!

www.necrocosm666.bandcamp.com

www.facebook.com/necrocosm

www.twitter.com/necrocosm

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