SonicBlast in Conversation with Necrot
In the eight years that have passed since their first (and only!) visit to Portugal, Necrot have grown immensely. From a promising and already quite unique-sounding death metal act on their ‘Blood Offerings’ debut, subsequent albums ‘Mortal’ and ‘Lifeless Birth’ upgraded the trio – comprised of guitarist/bassist/vocalist Luca Indrio, guitarist Sonny Reinhardt and drummer Chad Galley – to one of the hottest names in the genre right now. As we talked to Sonny, however, it was clear that their humility and passion for the music are exactly the same as they were when they started off.
How is it like being in Necrot these days? At least from the outside, it seems like there are many reasons for this to be an exciting time, from signing to Metal Blade to the amazing tours you guys are doing, for instance.
Sonny Reinhardt (guitars): Yeah, we’re having a great time. The Decibel tour we had in May alongside Cryptopsy, Fulci and Blood Monolith went great. We made lots of new friends, and all the crowds on that tour were really great. We had a really good time. And of course, the Metal Blade thing is really exciting. We’re actually working on learning the new album right now, and we’re going to probably record it at the end of the year. So yeah, things are really cool for us at the moment.
There’s a lot to unpack there, so much info! Let’s start with the Decibel Tour though – I imagine you are an absolute killing machine as a band right now after having done all of those dates with in such wonderful company, right?
Sonny: Yeah, we did another Decibel Tour in the past that was even bigger, with Cannibal Corpse and Morbid Angel and Blood Incantation, we also did some dates with Immolation, and that was huge for us. These things are always amazing and we always improve as a band when we go through it. This time the venues were a bit smaller than usual and the crowds were really crazy! We got a lot of younger, all-ages crowds who were very enthusiastic, lots of stage diving, lots of moshpits. Cryptopsy are more of a super tech death type of band so we weren’t sure what to expect, but the crossover was great. And you know, though I think we made some new fans, we start noticing that a lot of people who had come to see us the last few years came again, there are a lot of Necrot shirts out there these days!
It feels that you guys are on the cusp of becoming a “big band”, right? I think the next album, especially being on Metal Blade, might push you to become one of those usually bigger names on the posters, so to speak. Is that something you feel, from inside the band?
Sonny: Well, I really hope so! [laughs] We’ll see what happens. I mean, metal audiences like what they like, and then when they don’t like it, they really don’t like it” [laughs] So we can only hope the stuff we come up with will be really good and that Metal Blade will be a good fit for us. We’ve been on a much smaller independent DIY label for a very long time. We love Tankcrimes Records, Scotty Heath has been our hero for a very long time – in fact, this move to Metal Blade was largely his idea, he also wanted to see us expand. Everything was done with his blessing. The Metal Blade folks told us they just want to take all the good things we’re already doing and try to make them better and bigger. So that’s really the hope, that everything will just be better and we’ll have more opportunities than the ones we’ve already had along the years.
You were talking about the brutal honesty of metal fans just now, and the other thing about those is that usually a band making it big isn’t necessarily a welcome thing, there’s always a bit of pushback. But I honestly haven’t seen that happen with you guys yet, your progression has been so natural and you haven’t really changed who you are.
Sonny: Yeah, I think it helps that the nature of our music is that it’s never going be insanely accessible to everyone. It’s just really fast and crazy death metal still! Then again, take bands like Sanguisugabogg, they’re huge right now, and they’re crazy noisy and experimental. There’s all kinds of really wild different stuff getting popular right now. I think that the world is ready for a lot of different kinds of music. The straightforward type of things that we’re used to, that everybody’s always so diehard about, is changing. Look at bands like Blood Incantation or Castle Rat or some of these other bands that are coming up, who are completely unique in their own weird thing they do, and that’s what people are excited about.
If you do your own thing, you’ll find your audience, right?
Sonny: Yeah, that’s very true. It could go either way for us, I think. We are kind of staying more true to an old school sound, but then again, that has worked for so many bands for so long too. I think we’ll always have a solid base.
Now you will have a few festivals in Europe on the horizon for your summer, including our own Sonic Blast of course. It’s very interesting that you’re playing events that are very different from each other, from more extreme grind/death sort of fests to more laidback and varied things like Sonic Blast – you seem to be very adaptable in the places that you get to play in.
Sonny: Yeah, and it’s so cool that we are like that! I love that people consider us to play with such varied bills. For example, now I feel like Sonic Blast is going to be a bit more familiar for us since we just did an European tour with High On Fire, and we played some of those more doom/stoner fests, and it’s actually really cool to be a fast, punky death metal band on those kinds of bills because it’s so different. I think people get really worked up when a band like that comes out after a bunch of stoner and doom or rock’n’roll stuff, it feels like it’s extra fucking fierce. I love it when we get to be seen as the extra heavy, crazy band, that works really well for us.
It will also be a return to Portugal after a long time. Do you feel you are a substantially different band from what you used to be 2018 when you played in the country for the first (and only so far) time?
Sonny: Not too much, to be honest, other than we have a lot more songs. I feel like we’re probably better musicians too hopefully, maybe the songs have gotten faster or a little more technical or crazy, but also more catchy and melodic at the same time. But the essence remains the same. I remember that visit, the Porto date was in the venue that was in some kind of mall, wasn’t it? We played at almost 2am if I remember correctly. I walked around the whole place and it felt like a very David Lynch type of place for us! [laughs]
Exactly, Metalpoint, which unfortunately doesn’t exist anymore. I suppose Sonic Blast will be much less surreal than that experience, but do you have any actual expectations, given the characteristics of the festival that you already know?
Sonny: I keep hoping that after we play I can run out and jump into the water! [laughs] I expect it’s going to be very hot when we’re there.
The woods will be breezy hopefully, but yeah, it’s also a short run to the beach and you’ll love it!
Sonny: I can’t wait!
Speaking of waiting, can we bother you about the new album already, since you mentioned it at the beginning of the conversation? You’re learning the new songs right now, what can you reveal about them so far?
Sonny: Yeah, we’re just starting that process. Luca is kind of the main writer and composer, so he comes up with a bunch of things and then we get all get together and flesh it out. I think we’ve got maybe nine or ten songs right now and we’re just going to spend some time learning them and trying to get ready. I’m going to come up with a bunch of sick guitar solos and melodies over the riffs and we’ll be off to the races!
Is this business as usual for you? Are you working pretty much how you usually do for a new album?
Sonny: Yeah, this is how we’ve done it for the last several albums. We are also going to record with Greg Wilkinson again, so that’s another reveal. Greg is awesome and a very close friend.
Since the band’s profile has been getting bigger, you have more fans, you’re on a bigger label, does any of that creep up subconsciously when you’re writing, would you say? The idea that you’re going to be listened to by many more people than before?
Sonny: In a way, but in the sense of wanting to meet a standard of quality, and always making it a better album than the last one. We definitely want to keep getting better on each release, and I think that’s the major driving force.
It’s more responsibility than pressure, to put it like that, right?
Sonny: Yeah. I think that’s a better way to look at it. It’s a willingness to keep improving, I think that if we stay true to ourselves the audience hopefully will recognise that in the songs too. As for the songs themselves, I think they are moving in a little more melodic direction, but also more extreme at the same time. It’s a cool mixture, hopefully people will like it. “Melodic”, you know. [laughs]
Yeah, yeah, melodic in this context. Context is everything! You know what, it’s crazy that your demo was already made fourteen years ago. The band is fifteen years old this year. You still come across as excited fans who just got together yesterday.
Sonny: Yeah, absolutely. You know, as long as people keep liking the band and we’re physically able to do cool things, like come out and play Sonic Blast and all other cool places like that around the world, it’s still exciting for all of us as it was on day one. Even more so.
