Interview with Nekromantheon 2012

By Bradley Smith

Your new album Rise, Vulcan Spectre is about to be unleashed.  Can you tell me about it?  How does it represent your growth since Divinity of Death?   What does the title mean?  Is there any real concept to the album? 

Kick: Hey Brad! Rise, Vulcan Spectre is a way better album in our opinions, because everything we did was more thought through than before. Lots more focus on the details, so we could have everything the way we wanted. Actually, there is a concept! All the songs are about offering virgins blood to the beasts, defeating your enemies with might and learning the wisdom of the dead. It's a ritual to summon the spirit of the ancient metal gods. The title is simply our chant to resurrect the ghost of the original craftsman of real metal, Hephaistos, or Vulcan as the Romans used to call him.

Do you think over the years you have become better, more adept at the administrative functions of being in a band, I mean the interviews, the promos, the art selection and so forth?  Does this ever take away from the excitement of creating music and unleashing your art?

Kick: We've definitely learnt a lot about how things are supposed to work, but we get by. Sindre is the brains behind everything administrative, and me and Arse just kick back and let him stress, haha. Poor guy. I wouldn't say it takes away the excitement, but it's definitely a less exciting aspect of being in a band. I mean, we sure as hell would rather be on stage, in the studio or at our rehearsal space instead of sending e-mails to some mexican designer about what not to do to our MySpace page, but I guess it's not too bad after all.

Sindre: HAHA! Kick hits spot on here. But yeah, we learn as we go along and I’ve had many friends/contacts in the scene/biz whom have given me sound advice on how “manage” your bands. The most important lesson is not to just sit on your ass and wait for stuff to happen, regardless on how good your music is. Nothing comes free of charge. We have ben fortunate with having good labels and booking agents around us that actually care and are dedicated to the bands (talking about Obliteration and nerko here) around us as well..

So you consider Nekromantheon EVIL thrash versus PARTY thrash.  So what is the difference between the two styles to the untrained ear?  And what do you think of Party thrash bands? 

Kick: Partythrash often gives instant gratification and is as easily devoured as the 12 beers you've already had that night. The problem with too catchy stuff is the longevity, it's too easy to get sick of sing-along choruses and repetitiveness. By adding an element of evil instead of cheesy clichés, you can keep the heads banging for many years after the party has ended. Plus,  it's the evil that makes us wanna do this, not the partying. 

Sindre: I think we care about music, whilst party-thrashers care about everything else BESIDES the music.

Duplicate Records just released the repress of the We’re Rotting EP on vinyl format.  What made you decide to go back and rerelease this?  Has there been a big demand for the EP?  Is there anything additional on the repress that didn’t appear on the original version and where did these tracks come from?

Kick: It was only printed 500 copies on CD, and had been sold out for a long time. After the release of "Divinity of Death" the demands started getting more frequent, so Einar from Duplicate offered to release it on vinyl, which is our favorite format obviously. It's released as it was intentionally planned, with version of the song "Tortured in Tartaros" which was recorded  for the EP, and two tracks from our 2010 split 7" with Abigail (JPN). It's a cool release, check it out!

Along with Aura Noir and Devil you guys played the Final show at the Elm Street Café.   What did Elm street mean to the Norwegian metal scene and why is it closing?  Can you tell me about the show?

Kick: Elm Street meant a lot more to the scene before we started getting involved, as it was the meeting ground for basically the entire black metal scene in Oslo in the 90's. When we we're old enough to get in there, it had gradually turned more and more into a rock bar than a black metal stronghold. It's still a really cool place though, too bad it's closing. It had something to do with the building being bought by Olav Thon, Norway's answer to Scrooge McDuck. Or what, Sindre?

Sindre: Yeah, he owned the building and plans have been made a long time ago to “revitalize” that part of town. Fucking fagots. Elm Street have also meant a lot to us, the first obliteration show in Oslo was there, before we were old enough to get in.  I’ve seen a lot of cool shows there, hope they’ll relocate.

Last year you guys came over and played the Maryland Death Fest as well as a small North American tour.  How was your First trip to the USA?  What did you think of the country?  Did you discover you were better known over here than you had anticipated?  I mean I heard you sold out of your merch in the first couple of shows. 

Kick:The US was great, can't wait to get back there! We had a lot of fun and strange experiences, and met lots of great people. Most of you guys aren't as screwed up as your government make you appear,  haha. Yeah, we had to hide away our merch the first night so we could bring some for the rest of the gigs! That was weird, obviously we'd made an impression on someone.

Sindre: I was surprised of the level of dedication to the underground and quality bands. That was insanely cool to experience.

Did you visit the temple that your band is named from?  Can you tell me about the temple and your experience there?  Why did you choose the name Nekromantheon?

Kick: Roughly translated, Nekromantheon means "temple of the dead", and was a place to communicate with the spirits and learn the wisdom from beyond the grave.  And that's basically what we're trying to do, learn what happened to all our heroes who died in the late 80's and left a hollow shell of plastic and machinery in their place, and worship and honor their accomplishments. Yeah, we went there for vacation and inspiration in 2009, great trip! The temple itself is only ruins now, but you couldn't avoid feeling the cold winds of death. 

Sindre: That trip was epic. The band photos on Divinity of death are taken in the communication chamber in the cellar of the Nekromantheon temple, were the ancient priests and priestesses helped people communicate with the dead. That left a mark, no doubt. We also got to swim in the river Styx. 

I think you are the first Norwegian band I have thought to ask about the Terror attacks in Oslo.  So what were you doing on that fateful day?  How do you think that event has affected the Norwegian psyche in general?  IS there still a lot of coverage of it, or has it pretty much faded away?

Kick: We were playing in Germany that day, at Hell's Pleasure. We had no clue what happened, and were extremely confused by suddenly getting a texts from friends and family saying "We're all ok, no need to worry!", hehe. I think some people are way more on edge, and freak out about all kinds of things that you can't really do anything about. Others are just fed up with all the coverage. I mean, we'd all like to know whether the fucker is convicted or declared mentally unstable and those kinds of things, but I couldn't care less about what kind of t-shirt he's wearing and that kind of shit.

Sindre: ABB is a concentration of EVERYTHING I HATE politically, religiously and in general. May he tortured in perpetuity in the depths of Tartaros.

So Sindre, how is your taste for tequila coming along?  Are you getting into drinking it?  What is your favorite tequila so far?  What is your favorite non-tequila alcohol to perform alcoholycaust with? 

Sindre: HEHE, it’s coming along, but I get intoxicated in a different and more uncontrolled way when I drink it, which sometimes is a good thing, but most times bad. I was majorly rude to several people I value at the Pentagram gig in Oslo in December, when I had consumed your latest shipment beforehand, haha. Fave tequila is patron I think,  but most of the Reposado’s I’ve tried are good, while I’m not keen of blanco’s. Looking forward to try some Anejo. My favorite alcoholic beverage has to be beer, but I also really enjoy quality red wines, especially with food.

So what New Year’s resolutions did you guys make?  I assume giving up drinking was not one of them.  Heh heh.  What do you think of the Mayan prediction that 2012 is going to be the final year for humanity?

Kick: I'm usually against new years resolutions, as I feel it's better to start right away if you have something you wanna do better. This year, however, I came up with two last minute things; learning the german language and remembering my dreams better! We've already experienced enough bogus armageddons, time for the real deal. Bring it, Mayans!

Sindre: It is already upon us.

You guys released a split with Audiopain.  Tell me a little bit about this split 7” and how it came to be.  Also have you guys approached Duplicate about doing a new Uberthrash series that includes Nekromantheon and perhaps Deathhammer and so forth?  And make sure you guys apply pressure to Sverre and Petter to get a new Audiopain album recorded.  It has been far too long.  Heh heh.

Kick: Alex at Støy (who released "We're Rotting") actually came up with the idea and sort of arranged it to happen, but it took way too long before it actually did, and by then he was out of the business and Einar from Duplicate wanted to release it. The new series he's doing is called "Necröthrash" and includes us, Deathhammer, Black Magic and Carniwhöre. It's gonna be sweet! And yeah, Sverre actually called me the other day saying he had a lot a great riffs waiting to be put together, so you might be in luck! It's gonna take some time, though..

What are some of your upcoming plans with Nekromantheon?  What about some of your other bands?  What sort of promotion plans do you have for Rise, Vulcan Spectre? 

Kick: We're touring around Norway with Aura Noir and Skeletonwitch in February, probably gonna have a lot of fun doing that. We're also playing at some festivals this spring/summer, but have to make time for other bands as well.
 

Sindre: Lots of things are in the works, so hopefully we’ll be playing a lot live this year. As for OBLITERATION, we are writing our upcoming album as we speak, and hope to record it the first half of 2012. As for promotion, we now have a label that works on a very professional level, so they do the promotion for us, we are just gonna be as active as possible before the end takes over.

Thanks again for an interview of thrashing madness.  Any words of wisdom you would like to impart on us feeble thrashers that were passed to you from the resurrected gods?   THRASH HARD!!!

Thanks yourself, B-rad! The ancients demand that you listen to Condor!