Friday, January 20, 2017

Narthraal Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?


Birkir: We just finished wrapping up recording our first LP which is now being mixed and mastered and will hopefully be ready soon.
Now we're just getting ready for a couple of gigs here in Iceland and after those we're going on a little tour in central europe.

Jónas: We just finished recording our LP and are currently waiting for it to be mixed and mastered. Afterwards we will go on a 10 days tour.


Tony: We just finished recording our first LP and then we have a couple of gigs in Iceland before heading to Poland, Slovakia and Czech Republic in May/June.


Viktor: Well for one we have just wrapped up our recording sessions for our first LP which will be released soon.

2.So far you have released 2 ep's, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on both of the recordings and also how do they differ from each other?


Birkir: The first EP was a bit more focused on longer, more riff-packed songs, a bit heavier and darker atmosphere while our second EP, and our upcoming LP has shorter, faster songs and a bit more melodic, kinda similar to Dismember.

Jónas: Given that our last EP consists of songs that will be on the LP, I can't say that lots have changed since.
The sounds and structure has changed a lot, though, since our first EP. The songs are shorter and more aggressive and follow a relatively simpler structure.


Tony: We have always tried to have the same sound but in the writing sense, this new material is way different from our first EP which consisted with needless, long riffs. This one is more in your face kinda writing if you ask me.


Viktor: For starters, our latest EP is a lot more aggressive and angry in our opinion.
Our first EP consisted of more riffs which resulted in longer songs but our second EP is more of a celebration of the old school swedish death metal, simple, fast and straight to the point.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?


Birkir: Viktor field of expertise

Tony: Our songs are mostly about anti-religious, violence and social matter. Very often I come up with a title for a song I like and Viktor writes lyrics around that. And sometimes Viktor just makes things up in a jiffy :P


Viktor: Obviously that depends on what song you're listening to, we have various subjects for all our songs ranging from anti-religious themes to simple gore and violence.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Narthraal'?

Viktor: Originally we had this idea of creating an entire fantasy world inspired by biblical hell, this world was called Narthraal in its native demonic tongue.
Later we abandoned that idea but decided to keep the name because its catchy and there's no other band with that name.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?


Birkir: Eistnaflug 2016 and the Reykjavík Deathfest warm-up show that we did at bar 11 with Grave Superior and Nexion. I would say that we try to be powerful on stage, we want the audience to enjoy the show as well as they can.

Jónas: Since I'm a drummer I don't really do much on stage except move my hands. Some of our best shows involves last year's Eistnaflug and one concert supporting The Reykjavík Deathfestival


Tony: Eistnaflug for sure! And I think we have a nice stage performance, at least that's what we have been told.


Viktor: I think we call all agree that our greatest live experiences were at last years Eistnaflug and a Reykjavik Deathfest warm-up gig,
I'd have to say that when it comes to stage performance we're quite lively, after all there's not much sense in seeing a band just standing there and playing an instrument is there?

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

Birkir: Ah yes, we're playing another Deathfest warm-up show in march, but after that we're going on a tour that includes Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic with our friends in the Icelandic band Alchemia.


Tony: And we also have that gig here in Iceland on 4th of Feb with Carnal Tomb from Germany and 2 icelandic bands that I recommend everyone checks our, they are called Grave Superior and Urðun.


7.Currently the band is signed to 'Inverse Records', are you happy with the support they have given you so far?


Birkir: Yeah, they're amazing, they've been advertising us and sending our music all over the place, they also notified us of the tour we're going on. We're really happy about what they've done for us so far.

Jónas: The support has been great, well recommended.


Tony: Thumbs up!


Viktor: We are very happy about the support we have gotten from Inverse Records, they have been promoting our EP very well and we are very excited for when
they start promoting our LP

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of death metal?


Birkir: We've gotten a lot of positive feedback,and some not as positive, but we welcome all opinions about our music, and as long as it reaches out to people, then we're happy.

Jónas: The fans seems to enjoy it. Ironically the people who've been most critical of us has been friends from the local metal scene.


Tony: unfortunately people in Iceland are not getting the Boss HM-2 sound but abroad, we seem to be getting quite a nice review.

Viktor: So far we have been getting a lot of positive feedback, of course there's no such thing as a band that everybody loves but we're positive that we are doing something good.


9.When can we expect a full length and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?


Birkir: Our full-length will be out in the coming months, we can't really spill the beans on when exactly it will be ready but it will be soon. I think we'll just go with the flow music-wise we mainly just do what we want with our music.

Jónas: The future? I have no idea, but I doubt you can convince the whole band to make many changes.


Tony: Into musicals!


Viktor: Our first full length will be released soon, we can't say when exactly but our fans can expect it to be released within a few months.

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?


Birkir: We can all agree that our influences these days are Dismember, Entombed, Bloodbath and more.
I listen to a wide variety of music, mainly metal these days though, but recently i've been listening to a lot of Sulphur Aeon, Dissection, Bloodbath, Alcest and Insomnium.

Jónas: Old school Swedish Death Metal, particularly Bloodbath, Entombed and Dismember.
Bands that I've listened to lately are f.x. Batushka, Slomatics, Nile, Sleep and, of course, Bloodbath.


Tony: Dismember and Entombed for sure but also of course Bloodbath!

Bands that I listen to these days is of course Dismember and Entombed but also Lik, Bombs of Hades, Age of Woe, Mustan Kuun Lapset, Moonsorrow, Testament, Naglfar, Sons of Crom and Elderwind to name a few.


Viktor: Well, that's definitely an easy one, our greatest influences include Entombed, Dismember, Entrails and Bloodbath.

I can't really speak for all of us when I say what we are listening to but atleast me and Tony have been listening a lot to our friends in Lik, a fantastic OSDM band from Stockholm.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?


Birkir: Of the top of my mind it would be video games, movies and weightlifting.


Jónas: Films, reading about films, watching videos online about films and making films.


Tony: I like to watch anime, a lot! Lol


Viktor: Death, mayhem and long walks on the beach?


12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?


Birkir: Death Metal is love, Death metal is life


Jónas: If I ever stop listening to death metal, kill me.


Tony: Skál!


Viktor: The Death Metal scene is rising again, and it's coming back stronger than before, be ready!


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