Blackened Horde: How did the band get started?
Necrol: The actual start of the band was in 2001 with me being the sole member. Writing/performing/recording everything myself. The band was conceived, basically, from the need to make heavy music. The band started as a full “band” in 2005 with the release of “Requiems to Midnight, Woe” when I finally got a full lineup and we started playing shows.
Blackened Horde: What kind of music do you play?
Necrol: Right now I think the best way to describe the music is just extreme metal. When the band first started it was more melodic and more raw black. But now the band has taken on a much heavier tone and approach. But its way more black metal than death. So I’m not sure I would call it black/death. Even though thats what most categorize it as.
Blackened Horde: How has the band response been?
Necrol: Response so far has been great. There aren’t too many underground bands that play fast black metal. Its mostly mid tempo stuff. I think people enjoy seeing something different like us. Of course there are always haters for whatever reasons. Not many though so it doesn’t really matter
Blackened Horde: Where did the band name come from?
Necrol: The band has come from a whole lot of places. Mostly the North Central FL area. As a whole we spent the most time in Gainesville.
Blackened Horde: Introduce the band members
Necrol: The current live lineup is Necrol – Guitars/Vocals, Satorn – Bass, Tzelmoth – Drums
Blackened Horde: Who writes the music? Lyrics?
Necrol: I usually write all of the music. Lyrics has usually been a mix. I wrote all of the lyrics for the first album and it was myself and our then bass player D. Judas who wrote most of the lyrics for the new album “La Fin Absolue du Mode”.
Blackened Horde: And where do the lyric ideas come from?
Necrol: Lyrics come from many different places. We’re not really a “themed” band. We’re not a satanic black metal band and only write about Satan and occult stuff. We write about whatever we feel or is happening at the time.
Blackened Horde: What is your view in Satanism and Occultism?
Necrol: To me, Satanism is just as fake as Christianity or any other religion. Maybe even more so. As for occultism, I cant really say. A lot of people swear by that stuff and I personally have seen no proof of it being any less fake than the prior mentioned. But occultism is very interesting to me and it tends to be great subject matter. As for taking is seriously, I don’t really know.
Blackened Horde: How many albums/cds have you released?
Necrol: The band has released 2 full lengths and a demo. The full lengths being “Requiems to Midnight, Woe” in 2005, “La Fin Absolue du Monde” in 2010, and the “Symphones of Eternal Suffering and Damnation” demo in 2002.
Blackened Horde: Tell me about some the songs on the latest CD?
Necrol: “La Fin Absolue du Monde” has 9 tracks total. Lyrics range from all sorts of different things. From the myth of Lucifer in “Legion” to child molestation by the catholic church in “The Messiah of Pus and Bleeding Excrement”, and the end of the world in “La Fin Absolue du Monde”. Most of the tracks are fast paced and heavy. Lots of fast blasting (courtesy of Mike Heller from MALIGNANCY) and some heavy breaks and shred soloing. Something for everyone really.
Blackened Horde: Who are some of your musical influences?
Necrol: My musical influences vary greatly and they are very random. Things that influence me may not even be noticeable in the least bit. I’m a big fan of 80’s heavy metal like Motley Crue and Skid Row and such. Those are the things that make me creative. And as a guitar player I’mm massively influenced by Zakk Wylde. As far as influences that stick to the genre, I cant really say I have any. I don’t listen to a lot of extreme metal anymore.
Blackened Horde: Which current bands?
Necrol: No current bands. I really only listen to old stuff. Mostly 80’s heavy metal. If I do listen to extreme metal its older Nile, Behemoth, Immortal, Mayhem. Stuff like that.
Blackened Horde: What is the band like when you play live?
Necrol: We like to put on a show. We wear the corpse paint and full stage atire. There is nothing more boring than going to see a band that looks like they just crawled out of their bed. Or some dude that just climbed onto the stage from the crowd. We also like to move around and be animated on stage. Because aside from looking like some random person on stage, theres nothing that makes it even MORE worse than to have a band just stand there and not do anything. We like to put on a show. We have the paint, the gear, animated on stage, lights, fog, big banners. We like giving people something to look at while they listen and help to create a feel with the image. Its important to do that… No matter what some people might say or think.
Blackened Horde: What was the best band you played with?
Necrol: We’ve played with a lot of great bands over the years. Probably my favorite was playing with Dark Funeral. Those guys were awesome people and totally killed everything in their path. It was a great night for sure.
Blackened Horde: Have you guys ever played in another country?
Necrol: We’ve played Laredo, TX. Which is a border town of Mexico. That felt like another country. As far as ACTUALLY playing in another country, no, not yet. Hopefully soon. We’d definitely like to.
Blackened Horde: How big of crowd shows up at shows usually?
Necrol: That really depends. It depends on where we are and when it is. Sometimes we play in front of a packed house, sometimes not so much. Its always a toss up and depends on various amounts of things. I wish I could say that we play to capacity crowds all the time, but we don’t. And no one in the underground really does.
Blackened Horde: How is the crowd response when you play?
Necrol: Most of the time we get awesome responses from the crowd. We’re usually the band that everyone moves up to the front for when they’ve been in the back all night. Always lots of thrashing out and pits. Crowd response is always something I’m happy with about this band.
Blackened Horde: What do you think of the US Black Metal scene?
Necrol: I honestly don’t have anything TO say about it… Haha
Blackened Horde: What do you think of the Norwegian and Swedish scenes?
Necrol: I don’t know anything about those scenes anymore. I don’t really pay attention. All I know of those scenes are of the bands that are already known. And what is there to say about those guys except things that have already been said?
Blackened Horde: What are some of new favorite black metal bands?
Necrol: I like Immortal, Mayhem, Dark Funeral, Behemoth (don’tt know if thats black metal), Tsjuder, Craft, Gorgoroth. I guess thats the older stuff. I don’t really listen to anything “new”
Blackened Horde: Any plans on writing any new material?
Necrol: Definitely. Writing is a long process for me though. I have to like everything I put out and I don’t really like filler. So it takes a while. Plus the new album just came out so I’m focusing more on promoting that and stuff still. But there have been a few new song ideas and some new riffs being thrown around.
Blackened Horde: Have you ever heard any band(s) that seemed like they were influenced by you guys? And do you like those bands?
Necrol: Ive honestly not heard of any band that sounds like us. Ive had people tell me that SSK influences them and that my guitar playing or vocals influences people. I think its awesome. Unfortunately I don’t think Ive ever heard anyone that has been directly influenced by us. I’m sure I’d like it though. It would definitely be a cool thing.
Blackened Horde: What does the future hold for the band??
Necrol: I’m still intent on world domination. That is my main goal. So anything that the future holds will revolve around that and be along that path.
Contact them at:
https://www.facebook.com/SecretsSheKept
https://myspace.com/secretsshekept
https://www.youtube.com/user/DamnationBlack
