Before unleashing their infernal sound at Spears of Wallachia Festival, Necrowretch sat down with us for an in-depth interview. Known for the dark, raw intensity and evolving sound, Vlad reflects on the band’s journey from underground demos to their latest album, “Swords of Dajjal“.
Hail! It’s an absolute honor to have you here for this interview. Let’s start off with something different—what’s one thing about each member of Necrowretch that fans might not know?
Vlad: That nobody gives a shit about Oasis reformation?
When you think back to the early days of Necrowretch, what’s the first memory that comes to mind?
Vlad: So much delay on the vocals. Back in the late 00’s the trend was towards tech death metal with super polished production and endless solos. Necrowretch’s first demos were completely against this trend, our music was raw and dirty, with unspeakable screams drowned in delay.
Necrowretch has been active since 2008. How has your vision for the band evolved over the years?
Vlad: I think Necrowretch has always had one foot in black and death metal. Obviously, our first offerings were deeper in the underground death metal vein but always with that very evil screaming high pitched vocal pattern that is almost non-existent in death metal as well as some religious orientated themes more associated with the black metal scene.
With our previous albums “Putrid Death Sorcery” and “Satanic Slavery” we already said everything that could be said about a death metal approach and as we do not want to offer the same release twice we naturally evolve into something else.
Also, “Satanic Slavery” was already fast, so there was no point in going even faster, tons of bands have done that in the past and certainly better than us. So we concentrated on building up the atmosphere, the evil, the memorable riffs, the haunting and the haunting that you can feel in our music. So we have produced two more albums in the last five years: “The Ones From Hell” and “Swords of Dajjal”, which are clearly more black metal, focusing on the ambience and the atmosphere.
Vlad
© Necrowretch
In the beginning, Necrowretch was a one-man project. What was it like transitioning to a full band, and how did that change the dynamic?
R. Cadaver
© Necrowretch
Vlad: To be honest, the band was only a one man band for a few months in 2008 until I found a drummer and bass player to join me. All the material I’ve done before is just some rubbish demo and not really interesting.
W. Cadaver
© Necrowretch
Given that you’ve dabbled in grindcore sound before settling into death/black metal, what inspired the shift in musical production?
Vlad: This is before all a lack of means. At the beginning we started from zero with a shitty guitar, no tuner, no guitar strap, only two cymbals and so on…
We started recording our rehearsal with a tape player therefore the sound was closer to some Carcass demos.
After some months we saved enough cash to record the first demo “Rising From Purulence” in studio but we didn’t have enough to pay for the mix so I did it by myself and this first offering ended with a real old school death metal demo sound.
Your music is known for its dark and raw intensity. What non-musical influences—such as literature, film, or art—feed into that creative darkness?
Vlad: Growing up in the 90’s we were mainly influenced by video games like Diablo, Resident Evil, Legacy of Kain… and TV shows like : X-Files, Tales from the Crypt, The Outer Limits….
There has always been an interest in horror and supernatural art and metal music seems to be a portal to all these influences.
I love Diablo and Resident Evil, too! Great taste in videogames, hat off. Also, congratulations on the release of “Swords of Dajjal”. The album definitely feels like a step forward in terms of both intensity and atmosphere. What was your vision going into the creation of this album?
Vlad: The title song focuses on the end of days in a revised version of Islamic eschatology. The narrative takes place in Ghadames (present-day Libya) in the distant future.
A distortion of time will start the first disaster, and the Beasts of the earth will crawl to spread the message of the coming of Dajjal, the apostate, the one who will destroy the world.
It was a challenge for us to write an album that focused on Eastern mythology, both in terms of the music and the lyrics. It is not something that is very common in extreme metal, so we almost started from a blank page, which is sometimes better to create without boundaries.
The cover artwork for “Swords of Dajjal”
© Stefan Tanneur
The production involved significant changes in your approach to guitar sound and drumming. Can you elaborate on how these changes impacted the album’s overall sound and feel?
Vlad: The decision is linked to our new line-up.
N. Destroyer
© Necrowretch
N. Destroyer, our new drummer, loves to put so many hits everywhere, especially for the blast beat parts. It was very important to us that the mix could reflect all these little but very important tricks. Like when the ride cymbal is played on the rim or in the middle. The same goes for the tom rolls, which had to be at the front of the mix because we use a lot of reverb live.
It’s never easy to get the mix right for extreme metal as everything is always in the red and pushed to the max. So we tried to leave some elements in their natural gain and not overdub them to make room for other elements in the same frequency.
In the end, and after a long time of listening, I can easily say that this is the best Necrowretch production ever.
“Ksar Al-Kufar” has a particularly intense atmosphere. Could you explain the inspiration behind this track and how it was crafted to evoke such a powerful feeling?
Vlad: Once upon a time I visited the town of Ksar Al-Kebir in Morocco and felt very ill. It was sickness, where I was suffering a martyrdom and had a crisis for many days. Some locals said it was because of djiin, where I think “kif” was more to blame.
Anyway, since those days, I was always thinking about writing a song called “Ksar Al-Kufar“, like a devilish version of this city, a place you can’t find on any map, but only through dreams, or let’s say nightmares!
When we started writing the album with this oriental theme, I knew it was time for “Ksar Al Kufar” to come to life, and in the end it turned out so well that we chose it to be the opening song of the album and our live shows!
The album has been receiving a lot of praise in the underground scene. How are you feeling about the reception so far?
Vlad: We would like to thank everyone who praises this album, as we spent four long years in its production, it is even more gratifying to have good feedback on it.
Can you discuss any specific tracks from “Swords of Dajjal” that you feel particularly proud of and why?
Vlad: “Vae Victis“. This song is based on the story of the sack of Rome in 390 BC, when the Gauls defeated the Romans and imposed their terms on the defeated.
The reality of the world, to the vanquished woe! History testifies that only the strongest survive, and this is still the case in the world we live in. In a world where millions believe that mercy and forgiveness is the key to human salvation, this song does not!
How do you approach live performances? Is there a different energy or mindset compared to when you’re in the studio?
Vlad: We prepare ourselves with lots of rehearsals, where we put our mood into live conditions, with the same setup, time limit and other constraints.
Live music is not only to play the song faster, but also to play it properly to keep the atmosphere at its peak throughout the set.
With the band’s history of touring in diverse locations, including Asia, how has performing in these regions influenced your music and approach to songwriting?
Vlad: Most of the mainstream bands stick to Europe and the USA, whereas in extreme metal it is very common to play in many other places, including some ‘off the map’ regions.
This makes our journey richer and more diverse, and it is always a pleasure to meet metalheads from other cultures.
For example, our shows in Türkiye had a clear influence on our songwriting, which is connected to eastern deities that you can find in “Swords of Dajjal”.
As you return to Romania, for Spears of Wallachia Festival, how does it feel to unleash Necrowretch’s infernal sound here once more, and does this place awaken anything deeper within your music or performance?
Vlad: We are extremely proud to be returning to Romania almost ten years after our first tour in your country.
As we are not in a tour rush this time, we also aim to meet the locals, explore your ancient city and learn from your culture.
Who knows? Maybe it will lead to a song about Vlad Țepes.
Spears of Wallachia Festival
© Cavalleria Events
The metal community is known for its passion and loyalty. How important is that connection with your fans, and how does it influence your music?
Vlad: Metal music is first of all about fans and passion. Our genre is not popular in the mainstream world, and it means to stay so. Therefore the fans are the only coal to fuel this art and everyone is aware of it.
We have some supporters following us since the very first demo, some others just discovered us at our last show.
We do not navigate in any industry exceptions. We do music in our free time alongside our careers. This is not about money and I guess this is also why extreme metal is so sincere and true.
What advice would you give to young musicians who are inspired by Necrowretch and want to follow a similar path?
Vlad: Be sure to spend enough time on demos and pre production before recording your album, because when it’s done, it’s done. And you might end up with some regrets about a song that you might have improved before.
