1. In 2010 you decided to start the band, why did you decide to create Necronuatical? Why did you choose the name Necronautical and what does it refer to?
In those days we were young, there was no big plan. We were good friends already, myself, Anchorite and Carcarrion. We were already musicians, but at the time I was a drummer and had only just picked up guitar for the first time. Around that time I was also learning to record music on a basic pro tools setup. I was hanging out with these two guys and we started making some basic songs to record, loosely in a kind of black metal style. We just started doing it because it was fun to create songs, no more no less. Even though this is the beginning, I don't really feel like we started operating as a band until a few years later, after the 'Black Sea Misanthropy' Demo Album. We kind of made that for ourselves, but it started to get a little attention, and we were offered a contract from Cacophonous Records. This gave us a boost, and so at that point we got working with Slugh on the drums, started our first shows and began to work as a unit and live entity. Before that if anything it was more of a bedroom project.
The name Necronautical means “pertaining to the exploration of death”. Derived from greek routes, the 'naut' aspect means to be one who explores, as we see in words like “Astronaut” or “Psychonaut”. We wanted to focus our lyrics on the esoteric, and so this idea of a band devoted to exploring the plain of death seemed unique and interesting to us. There's also the kind of fun link to Nauticalia and Seafaring I guess but that's not the focus of lyrics or concept. Sometimes it can come out as a pun or metaphor though.
2 Although you have been active since 2010 it seems that until the 2016 edition of "The Endurance at Night" that the band did not make the definitive leap, a time that coincided with the inclusion of Slugh in the ranks of the band, how important has been the participation of Slugh in all the development and establishment of the band in recent years?
Thats correct. I covered this in my previous answer really. By the time we were working on “The Endurance...” we definitely felt like we had advanced a lot as players and as songwriters. We were more capable with our intruments and confident enough to try new things with the music. We had been approached by Cacophonous Records and they encouraged us to get out of the bedroom and onto the stage. So it was time to stop with the drum programming and start working with a drummer. Our music was always intended to be fast and complex, and so we had to fool a drummer with talent into believing in us and joining our ranks.
I had met Slugh (Rob Harris) very briefly before, but I have to say i liked him straight away. I knew from hearing his band Foetal Juice that this was a very capable player, and as well as this he was one of those guys from the Metal scene that was well loved, a warm character that nobody would say a bad word about. As well having talent, it was important we found someone that would meld with us personally. Im not quite sure how it worked out so well. Rob was doing well on his own and it surprised me that he agreed to join, but now i could not imagine anybody else drumming for Necronautical. He is one of my best friends, as he is to the others, an incredible drummer and a really creative guy. As well as managing high speeds on blast beats and double kick drum, he is also full of flare in his playing with a style of his own, really the perfect fit for Necronautical.
His role has been extremely important. Without him we could not be performing live, and without that we would not be able to deliver our music in its most immediate and intense form, how it is supposed to be manifested. He changed the project from a bedroom recording team to a touring band. His first recording with us was 'Apotheosis', and i think you can really hear the progression of the band on that album from the one before, and that really is down to him.
3. With the release of your previous album “Apotheosis” you managed to arouse the interest of the public and the press thanks to a more recognizable and unique sound. What did the release of Apothesis mean for you? Can it be said that the sound of this album defines you as a band and will mark the path to follow for the band?
Apotheosis was a significant release for us. I think its impact was greater probably due to a couple of things, we toured our second album “The Endurance at Night” extensively, taking our music far and wide in tiny clubs and basements, building a fan base the old fashioned way. As well as this it was our first release for Candlelight Records and our first with Slugh playing on the recording. And so there was a lot of excitement around this next release. In our minds each new peice of work needs to be a step forward, in one way or another. Im pleased with the record still, I think of all that we've done Apotheosis kind of has its own vibe, in many ways its quite unique and quite personal. Im proud that it has an atmosphere that is all of its own. People still tell me its their favorite Necronautical record, whereas others prefer the sound we created for “Slain...”, I guess that doesn't matter, Im just glad that each record is making the intended emotional connection. I wouldn't say it necessarily defines us, i think its dinstinctly our work, but at the same time we're not in the business of repeating ourselves. Each album is its own trip I guess.
4. How has the writing and recording process of your new album “Slain in the Spirit” been? What brands of instruments have you used for recording and composition? What can your fans expect regarding the evolution of your sound with respect to “Apotheosis”?
Writing Slain was relatively painless. The songs seemed to emerge rather quickly, in hindsight I'm amazed at how swiftly we got back in the studio, especially considering that “Slain...” is really a complex body of work. We were lucky that it was mostly written before the lockdowns, so it lined up quite nicely that I was able to create the keyboards and soundscapes during those days in isolation, and when that was done we were ready to record it, so strangely it worked out. We don't have any endorsements right now but for equipment Im using PRS guitars through an EVH amp, Carcarrion plays Ibanez through ENGL amps, Anchorite is using Gibson, Darkglass and Ampeg, and finally Slugh is playing Tama, Sabian and is endorsed by Czarcie Kopyto pedals.
I think “Slain...” is a much heavier record than “Apotheosis”, with a lot of twists and turns and unexpected sounds. The grandiose elements are taken further, with soaring soprano vocals from our guest singer Victoria Harley added to the fray, the speeds are much faster and the riffs much more complex, and yet at the heart of it like always our focus is to create catchy, well crafted songs that convey emotion to the listener. Every dial was turned to ten, you have to hear it and you'll understand what I mean. Its an intense, complex and bombastic record.
5 “Slain in the Spirit” sounds like classic blackened metal although we can't overlook some other influences such as death or progressive, how would you define the sound of the album for those who haven't heard it yet? What bands have influenced you? mainly to define the sound of the album?
Yeah, Id say your analysis is right. It must be obvious to most that we are fans of classic bands like Emperor, Dissection or even Opeth. I think in our hearts we are seeking to create the darkly beautiful atmospheres that bands from that time were conjuring. It is something that is lost from a lot of modern black metal, that sense of grandiose elegance and beauty that melds so well with the ferocity of extreme metal, when done with sincerity and restraint! We want to fly the flag for that sound, for us it is fundamentally influential. The intergration of heavier moments and complex timings and stuff like that just feels fun to us, its a cool way to get creative and keep things forward thinking and unique. I guess you could say a lot of our influence is from bygone days, but we are trying to reignite those old feelings of classic albums and contort them through adding various modern elements as well, so i guess its one eye on the past and another on the present. However you define it, we achieved our intention on the last record, and its there for people to interpret.
6. What main themes do you deal with in your lyrics and why do you decide to include them in your lyrics? Do the lyrics adapt to the music or vice versa?
There's no rule for us on how we do lyrics or what we'll write about, however we do like to come up with a kind of running theme or atmosphere for each album, but even that only exists for a basic framework. Anchorite is the guy that really fleshes out this aspect of the band, he is our primary lyricist, he is really good at delving into a topic and uncovering details and depths that are really interesting, and this yeilds some really cool topics to weave into the lyrics. Because of this I won't talk about the concept at length. The lyrics are focused around altered states of consciousness, be it dreams, hallucinations or a deep spiritual state, the lyrics were intended to reflect the kind of psychadelic chaos that we felt was conjured through the songwriting. So we were examining Occultism, Thelema, Magick, Spititualism and Psychadelia, stuff like that... and trying to channel all the emotion of the music through that contorted lense. All the glory and terror of experiencing a level of being that is far from familiar.
7. The production, mixing and mastering of the album has been carried out by Chris Fielding, why did you decide to work with Chris? What do you think Chris has contributed to the final sound of the album?
Chris also handled mix and master duties on our 'Apotheosis' record. He adds a lot to it when we are working together, he has this way of creating a relaxed environment and we always really enjoy working with him. We consider him a friend, he is immensely talented, an awesome producer, his studio is in a beautiful, remote place and not so far from home for us. For these reasons we'll keep returning to Chris, its a no brainer and we enjoy working with friends where we can! Chris doesn't typically work with our style of music but thats no matter, he innately understands the band and gets us the ideal sound for the songs we present to him, as well as adding some interesting ideas, twists and transitions to the songs themselves. He's a great guy and a great producer!
8. The artwork for “Slain in the Spirit” has been the work of David Thiérrée, why did you decide on that cover? What does it represent and how does it relate to the musical content of the album?
David is another friend of ours. I think he first met Rob (Slugh – Drums) out at Hellfest maybe five years ago, and he met us collectively when we played at Inferno Festival in Norway in 2018. We don't really choose the album art as such, David is highly creative and like all good creatives he doesn't like restrictive direction! So for 'Slain...' we really just wanted to capture that kind of psychadelic choas that is evident in the music, but we also wanted David to feel free in his project so we just gave him the word 'nightmare' to work with. He returned to us with the painting you see on the front cover. I don't really know how he does it, it really was the perfect artwork for the album, fitting the vibe of the music perfectly.
9. First Cacophonous Records and later Candlelight Records, two record labels with a long history to which you have been linked, how did Cacophonous Records become interested in releasing your work? And how did the possibility of working with Candlelight Records arise later?
Yeah, I guess both the labels we have worked with have actually been fairly fundamental in the sonic arena we operate in, thats true! We are quite fortunate, we've never applied for a record deal or sent a demo. With Cacophonous, the offer just came from the blue. We'd self released our first record, it didn't gain a huge deal of traction but seems it was enough for Cacophonous to want to sign us. I think that was the point we really had to ramp up the work we were doing in the band, and transform it from the studio project into the band we know today. It was a steep learning curve, it was stressful but it was all a lot of fun, and we've certainly learned a lot. Things with Cacophonous kind of just fell apart, we lost contact and were left in the dark. To this day there's little to nothing we can do with our second album as its signed to them. I guess thats a little history repeating! Haha.
With Candlelight, I was already friends with Darren (who is A&R at the label as well as... everything else! Great guy) and had released one record via Candlelight with a band I used to do vocals for, although I kind of took a back seat in that whole relationship, and so there was already a link there. In any case one night Darren just reached out to me, we talked about a whole bunch of stuff, and then later we got onto Necronautical and he seemed genuinely intrigued by it, i think he was aware through following my social media that i was working hard in this band and being creative with it, posting at that time from my home studio most days. So he asked me for some demos and again, we stepped up! The relationship with Candlelight has been going brilliantly. It trule is a great record label and we are proud to be on the roster.
10. How were your beginnings in music: first concerts you attend, first albums you buy? What happened in your lives pushed you to want to be musicians?
Well... I can only speak for myself here. I loved music all my life. My family are music fans. I loved my dads records. Great bands like ZZ Top, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, classic albums that I love to this day! My older brother got into playing guitar before me, and he was checking out players like Hendrix or whatever, but also listening to contemporary rock and metal from that time, mainstream stuff but decent, bands like Tool, Deftones, Slipknot... and so this stuff was all around me. I was a fan of rock and metal when I was a really young boy. My first concert was Jimmy Page & Robert Plant in 1998, off the back of a record they did called “Walking into Clarksdale”. It was amazing, Jimmy Page was my idol when I was a little kid, and there he was! First albums I bought for myself is actually hard to remember, i used to buy singles on tape and CD before, I remember the first CD single i ever got was Placebo – Pure Morning (a song i still enjoy) after seeing it on Top of the Pops (a kind of friday night music TV show in England that ran for many years), I got it from Manchester airport and listened that CD single endlessly on my headphones the whole holiday. It only had two songs on it haha, the B side was called Leeloo and was this weird electronic thing. I think when i eventually got to buying albums i was already on my metal journey, i had discovered Metallica and Slayer, and this would end up defining my teenage years. I think I got “Master of Puppets” and “Garage Inc” (it would take me a bit of time to realise this was a covers album!) from Metallica pretty early on, they might have been my first albums that I owned.
11. What album represents for you the essence of black metal? What last albums have you bought?
I think Black Metal is really broad, which is brilliant, and so its not right to define its essence as anything thats necessarily musical. I feel like its more of an attitude. Its either in you or its not. For me it should be sincere, powerful and negative. That combination of ferocity and atmosphere. When it clicked with me, on hearing “Storm of the Lights Bane” and soon after seeing Dissection live on the rebirth tour... it just all made sense, in a way that I cannot explain to someone that doesn't already understand. I think Black Metal can speak to something primal inside of you that really has nothing to do with the world outside of it. So yeah, nothing to do with shrieking vocals or blasting drums, its just whether its giving out the black metal feeling. And for that to work, the feeling needs to be alive in the creator for the listener to recieve it!
I've recently got the new self titled EP from Thy Light, which is amazing (thankyou Poulo!), and I picked up some vinyls from Black City Records, I think it was Furia (PL) and the reissue of The Shadowthrone from Satyricon. Most recently I got my copy of “Take Up My Bones” from Ard, the new project of Mark Deeks, who is a member of Winterfylleth (keys, vocals). That's a really great and unique record, traditional doom sounds with a kind of choral, vocal delivery that you might be familiar with from Winterfylleths 'The Hallowing of Heirdom” record. Its driven by piano composition as much as guitar, and holds lots of atmosphere, its really quite unique actually, I definitely recommend it. That's out now on Prophecy Records.
12. What future plans do you have for Necronautical in terms of upcoming releases or reissues?
The wheels have started turning for another record, if only slowly. I think we'll probably take a little more time writing this, not due to lack of enthusiasm but simply time and other commitments, its going to be a challenge to pull it together but I know we will make it work and create something great, as we wouldn't settle for anything less! So yeah, there's a couple of ideas kicking around, they've started to grow into songs. Our sights are definitely set on that, so thats really exciting. There are currently no plans for any reissues or anything like that. I'd love to see our second record “The Endurance at Night” get a vinyl release one day, but for now that's just an idea, i hope we'll put that in motion down the line, but as I elluded to earlier, that may be complicated! So with this fucking pandemic and everything, touring has not been that extensive just now, we've played a lot of huge shows around the UK though and we are excited to get out and play more in support of 'Slain...', so i imagine aside from writing we will continue the live crusade as it suits us throughout the rest of this year.
13. Thank you very much for taking the time to answer these questions for Black Metal Spirit, if you want to add something for Necronautical fans, this is the place. I hope the questions are to your liking.
My thanks to Black Metal Spirit for the interview, i really appreciate that you have taken an interest in Necronautical. If you are a Necronautical fan, I have nothing to offer other than our thanks for the support over the years, and we promise to continue to deliver darkly atmospheric and bombastic sound collages for the years to come, so stick with us!
Questions answered by NAUT.
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After a short period of silence, the third and final full length album
of the widely acclaimed Finnish gnostic luciferian metal band IC REX
is finally about to see the light of day in vinyl format.
This special LP release manifests the third revelation of IC REX,
Vedenjakaja (The Aquarius), in magnificent gatefold covers.
The release offers an 8 page full colour booklet
with lyrics and alchemical keys together with the original
CD cover and logo poster. With these, the mysteries begin to unravel...
The seven luciferian hymns of Vedenjakaja
are slightly re-mixed and re-mastered for the vinyl version
in order to increase the possibility of metanoia
in the consciousness of the initiates and listeners,
and beyond official album songs, the vinyl version reveals two exclusive
bonus songs called 'Kaukomieli' (The Wayward Wanderer)
and 'Punaisen Tulen Vihityt' (Initiates of the Ruby Fire).
The album is due to be released December 2011.
Expect nothing less than ~70 minutes of bona fide
Luciferian excellence for all aspiring hermetic initiates!
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