1. The band counts already 19 years of existence, How do you fell about it?
CORSETH: Ultimately I can't get my head around that much time having passed. It's been a ride but there is a lot more to fucking do.
2. NECRO RITUAL’s origins actually date back to 2003, could you please outline how did black metal or generally extreme metal scene in UK at that time when you started the band looked like, and compare it with the current situation?
VOID: It had a magic to it that just does not exist in this modern age of always online communication. There was more of an atmosphere of danger, of lawlessness. There were less egos, less hangers-on. It was less about individuals personalities and more the music.
You just had to be there to know the feeling. Today it is certainly easier for bands to become known (and this is a blessing in disguise) however in the early to mid and even later 00's you had to earn your place with sheer fucking determination and teeth bared.
Ultimately we can wax lyrical about a bygone age into the early whisky sodden hours of the morning with rose tinted glasses but the truth of the matter is it was something better, something worse, Something stronger, something weaker. It had a power and a vibe
the likes of which cannot exist again - Exactly how we would harken to the early 90's scene at the time.
3. After 12 years in the making, you finally present your third full-lenght album“Bysmer”. How tumultuos was this long-waiting process?
VOID: Quite frankly this process would have broken lesser men and folded bands. We have survived musical career threatening injuries and lineup changes that have thrown innumerable spanners into the dark satanic mill of progress that is Necro Ritual, but
as always we have risen to the occasion. What you are listening to in the body of work that is 'Bysmer' is sheer bloody mindedness, determination, focus and a total disregard and hatred of failure. As a band - we simply do NOT know how to fail. Every set-back is another means to say
''Fuck you'' to the world and continue to spite it.
4. What are some topics discussed in “Bysmer” and why did you select this title for your album?
CORSETH: The album has taken a long long time to get together and as a result the lyrical themes are quite diverse. Our last release was a fully conceptual one and was based around a single subject, being the christianisation of England, whereas Bysmer ranges from anti religious sentiment, Orthodox Satanism and on others, a more abstract take on what lies beyond our current existence. In the years it took to record this album, certain experiences forced me to rethink certain convictions I had held rigidly and I feel in retrospect the lyrics quite inadvertently reflect that.
The Name Bysmer was found when looking through a dictionary of old Anglo Saxon words, it can mean Blasphemy, pollution, an abomination.. all perfect words to describe this cunt of an album!
5. I´ve read your previous album was recorded over the course of a couple of months. What about “Bysmer”? Which was the strongest and weakest moment of this journey? What are your final impressions?
VOID: The weakest moments I have touched upon previously: The continued setbacks and lineup changes that would impact momentum. The strongest moment? For me it was when the album was recorded and it had the feel of the end of a storm. We were on limited time as our rehearsal and recording studio at the time was about to close for good and be demolished, so there was real power behind carving one last piece of art out of a place that had been the temple for our band for many, many years.
Birthing this album out of the ashes of the now dead past - Yeah that was the strongest moment for me. It had a power.
6. You’ve managed to incorporate various elements in your music, one can find very intense and crushing moments as well as an atmospheric veil. Is this something that came along the way naturally for you?
VOID: Very much comes naturally to us. Personally Black Metal is at its very, very best - its truest essence - when it is either relentlessly violent, oppressively atmospheric - or both. It is a very specific genre that invokes very specific emotions.
It can destroy, it can build. It can crush. Atmosphere is an art, a mantra for the senses. To then bludgeon it with a surgical aggression is perfection. To quote Yukio Mishima 'Perfect purity is possible if you turn your life into a line of poetry written with a splash of blood'
7. How do you work as a band? What’s the process you follow when composing an album?
SKRAGMOR: Writing a song always starts with a killer riff. Riffs usually manifest themselves as melodies in my head at most random times, like gifts from beyond. I tend to record them and add drums as I see fit so that there is some sort of structure or skeleton. I then send these ideas to the rest of the band who can flesh out ideas until we meet at rehearsal. We then evolve the skeletons as a unit and twist them until they are the best they can be.
Bysmer had a slightly different writing process as I really wanted some variations to the album, so I asked our former guitarist, Grimsurm, to write 4 songs for this opus of his own back, to really have some distinct differences between the tracks, to make this album as interesting and varied as possible. The 2 writing styles really come across well in Bysmer in my opinion.
Once we find a new permanent guitarist, I want to mix things up again for the next album and have the two guitarists write riffs together as a unit and bounce off eachother to yet again give the next album a whole new feel and a whole new side to the madness that is Necro Ritual.
8. According to the ‘The Metal Archives’ your lyrical themes are about satanism and war. Can you explain how we can see those issues being reflected in your lyrics?
CORSETH: The Metal Archives page pretty much seems to do it's own thing for the most part, it is edited and added to without our input.
In general though, my approach to and my definition of Satanism is far looser than it was. Less fixed into the rigid I suppose inversion of christian dogma. I've ultimately realised how complex and impossible any of it is to understand until the point of death. The only clarity I have gleaned from any of this is that the answer lies far far away from any of the written texts.
9. Could you explain the meaning and significance behind the album artwork, and tell us how the conceptualization of the album artwork come about?
CORSETH: The artwork was created by the excellent Will Helm of Will-Helm Arts. This time around we decided to pass on the music to the artist and let him go with where he felt. I feel like it can be very freeing to get an outside perspective to your art sometimes and we benefited from that.
10. With so many black metal bands coming up these days, how do you manage to keep your material relevant? How challenging is it to come up with newer material?
TALOS: Both finding relevance to our music, as well as the creation it, are probably two of the easiest aspects for us. There's enough madness in both our personal lives and the world around us to keep us inspired. We are beyond proud of what we create and we back it with conviction. We are a unit of strong-willed individuals with the same goals in mind with our music, and we just do what we do and simply could not care less about the opinions of any opposition. This attitude alone helps our relevance, but I guess all of that being recognised & supported by the people who support us helps give our mission statement even more claim. We already have near-finished songs and an abundance of riffs & ideas between us for the next album. Right now our focus is on Bysmer, and we are still very much at the beginning of this album cycle.
11. How important is live performance for NECRO RITUAL? How does your show looks like? Do you focus also on aesthetic side of gig?
TALOS: For me, the stage is really the ultimate place. We strive to make our live performances a cerebral experience both for us and the audiance. For anyone unfamiliar with our live performances, our album artwork and imagery will give you a good idea, but generally our live shows are exactly what one should expect from a black metal band - blood. Fire. Death. Whenever & wherever possible. Every show I play I perform like it could be my last, if that's any idea of what kind of energy I put in to them!
12. What is black metal for you? Does it bring you some new emotions or it helps you to get ride of some negative emotions?
TALOS: For me, playing black metal is tapping into a primal attack of the senses. There's nothing quite like this kind of channelling, it's controlled but pure rage and insanity.
13. What is your relation to classic printed zines? Do you think that they still have their place on the scene?
TALOS: Zines are where some of the best music & most honest interviews can be found. They are willing to take the risk to give exposure to bands, that for many other media outlets who worry about commercial pressures, may turn their nose up at. They will always have a place within the underground.
14. Thank you! I want to give you the final word. Is there anything you want to share with our readers?
CORSETH: Hail the true flame of Black Metal, the unapologetic spirit of the free and untamed. Refuse and destroy, wherever you find them, the madmen of the church, the synagogue and the mosque and also put to slaughter the self censoring Invertebrate who would slit their own throats in an attempt to silence yours under the guise of so called 'woke' politics and cancel culture. Hail the strong!!
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