After 11 years of silence, Italian death/black metal band NECROMASS announced the long-awaited reunion, driven by the re-releases by the German label Funeral Industries (who have already published “Mysteria” on gatefold vinyl in 2010) and by the inexhaustible support from the fans, who have continued to honor the name of Necromass over the years. The band is three quarters the same one that has performed dozens of concerts (including the tour with Dark Funeral) after the release of “Abyss”: Ain Soph Aour (vocals, bass), John Cordoni Kerioth (guitar) and Nachzerher Mara (guitar), while a new drummer (to be announced soon) will replace Black Wizard (who joined Domine in 2001).
Some days ago Necromass’ guitarist John Cordoni told me about the band’s comeback…
Hi John, I’m Tarja, welcome to Metal Shock Finland! …and welcome back to Black metal scenes!
Hi Tarja, thank you very much, glad to be here!Before we go further, I’d like to ask how does it feel now, that you’re back? What were you doing in these past 11 years? and why you were away, I mean what were the reasons for the break up?
We’re really load and proud to be back! When we disbanded at the end of 1999, we were living big changes in our lives and we had several personal problems , that’s why we decided to stop. Then, we were involved in other projects (Black Wizard joined Domine, I joined Narr!, Ain Soph Aour joined Pilgrim Shadow and Nachzerher Mara focused on painting under the nickname Al Nitak), but we often said each other it would be great to have a Necromass comeback. Through these years, we had so many messages from our old and new fans, worldwide, and also the work made by Funeral Industries to re-release our two albums has been a big injection of will in the perspective of the reunion. The rest came by itself: when we plugged in the rehearsal room, there was always that same excellent feeling between us, which made us get this far.
If you don’t mind, I’d like to go back in the past… after only 2 years’ of life of Necromass, the ’94 was the year of the real break-through on an international scale… first came out your 7″ EP ”Bhoma” and then your first full lenght “Mysteria Mystica Zothyriana”, which is still considered your masterpiece and a milestone in the genre. And after your reunion it has been reissued by a German label Funeral Industries. In your opinion, what is the secret of this album?
It’s so evil!!! In 1994, “Bhoma” and “Mysteria” were big surprises for fans and media: very violent and powerful album, terrifying vocals, great drumming, and also the songwriting was so good: there is a great musicality on the “Mysteria” album and that made the difference!
You’ve played with many important acts, as Dark Funeral, Sadist and Detestor… do you want to share with us some memories about those concerts and tours?
We had such a good time with Dark Funeral, I remember Emperor Magus Caligula was always on our van, it was a never-ending party. We had a very good relation with the other guys (Lord Arhiman and the rest of the band as well): if someone was having a problem the others never waited before to give help. I remember a lot of blood in the backstage! Very good times! We had a lot of fun with Sadist and Detestor as well, we were touring as a big family, the feeling between the bands was simply fantastic!Talking about “Mysteria Mystica Zothyriana” and “Abyss Calls Life”, are there some differences between the original and remastered versions?
The sound from the remastered versions is more powerful! We wanted to give our fans what they asked though these years, so we included our 7”EPs “His Eyes” and “Bhoma” on “Mysteria” and the 1995 unreleased demo on “Abyss”. Also the artwork and booklets are richer than the original versions.
How has your sound changed in these years, if any?
We had a more progressive approach on “Abyss” if we compare it to “Mysteria” (more breaks, mid-tempos, guitar solos), but the Necromass mark has remained. I think you will always recognize our sound through the years, even if we change something. Anyway, now we are something in the middle of these albums, with a more contemporary sound.
What’s your message on stage, I mean what would you like to transfer to your audience with your music?
Fear, rage, energy, power and a lot of other emotions is what we try to transfer to our audience when we play live. We believe that it is very important to have a great exchange of emotions between the band and the fans during a concert, that’s what allows you to reach the highest energy and the strongest emotions.
What are you doing now? writing new material?
Yes we are writing several new songs. Two of those are almost ready to be recorded, so you will be able to listen to new Necromass material in the next few months.
Tell me about your songwriting process… and about the lyric themes, from where you take your influences?
Usually one of us propose and share an idea and then we develop the initial idea into a new song. We like to play all together in the rehearsal room to find the right feeling and the proper arrangements. About the lyrics, we always took influence from the Esoteric world and still we do!You will be back on stage next Autumn… what and where are the first show dates?
Our first date will be the “Rock Hard Festival” on September in Milan. We will play with Coroner, Onslaught and Master, among the others. Then we’ll be back on stage in November/December: we have a lot of requests to play live and we are proud of that!
What will be there in your setlist?
There will be the best from our two albums and something from our earlier releases, such as “His Eyes”. I’m sure the fans will be completely satisfied by our setlist, but I can’t give more informations about that right now, because we think it has to be a surprise, especially for the first show!
I guess, it must be a great feeling to be back on stage… what are your expectations on your first “come-back” show?
Yes, we’re looking forward to be back on stage, we’re load of black energy to share with the audience and we are planning everything to have a great comeback: we are very excited about that! Nevertheless, we want to play more and more in the next moths and I’m sure we will improve our show gig by gig, giving always our best: blood and sweat!
And what about the next future, some plans that you can already reveal?
Well, in September, just after the Rock Hard Festival, we will record new songs for a split vinyl with Mortuary Drape. It will be out, on CD as well, by our label Funeral Industries. In the meantime we are composing several other songs because we would like to have a new album out next year.
And now the word is yours… what would you like to say to your fans and to our readers?
We have never been in Finland and we hope to be soon your guests for some gigs or festivals. In the meantime contact us through our webpages:
http://www.necromass.it/
www.myspace.com/necromass
Thanks John about this interview, hope to see you soon on the road! \m/
Thank you so much Tarja, see you soon!
Interview by Tarja Virmakari – Photos by Angelo Sabato
