Interview

Necromantia: The Alpha And Omega

They say that all good things must come to an end and sadly, 2021 marks the end of one of Greece's most revered extreme metal bands. Necromantia was formed in 1989 and soon became known as one of the pioneering forces of Greek black metal. Their debut album, "Crossing The Fiery Path" is regarded by many to be a must have for any self-respecting fan of the genre and led by bassists Magus Wampyr Daoloth and Baron Blood, they forged a legacy of extreme music which few can match.

Tragically, in 2019, Baron Blood suddenly passed away after suffering a heart attack. Magus confirmed to fans that while Necromantia couldn't continue without him, he would nonetheless release a new EP in memory of his fallen brother. Due to the pandemic however, Magus was gifted more time and the EP has transformed into a final full length album, "To The Depths We Descend." To find out more about this album, the process behind it, the legacy of Necromantia and Greek black metal's differences to the Scandinavian style, we caught up with The Magus, who now fronts Yoth Iria. You can watch the interview in full below.

Diamond Oz: Necromantia has always been held up as one of the premier bands of Greek black metal, which itself is highly regarded. Obviously with the passing of Baron Blood, it's an appropriate time to end the band. Why was it important to finish with one last album?

Magus Wampyr Daoloth: When Baron Blood departed two years ago, it was kind of a shock. Not because I lost a band member, I lost a friend. I knew him since high school. We were thinking about making another Necromantia album but we didn't have time to do it due to everyday obligations like family. So I felt obligated to do a final recording dedicated to him, it's like we continued where we left off. In the beginning it was going to be an EP with just a couple of songs; One for Baron Blood and maybe another one or some re-recordings, but due to the pandemic and the lockdown, I had more time on my hands. So it gave me the opportunity to concentrate more on that, because when we record a Necromantia album, we have to always be concentrating on it, otherwise it doesn't work.

The second most important thing is that I found a good team: George Emmanuel from Lucifer's Child on guitars and Yiannis Votsis on drums. So I had a good team, I had the time and I had the inspiration after all this time of, let's say inactivity, musically, to make an album and I think we kind of owed it to the people who have supported us over the years. A farewell album before the band stops forever.

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