The band was formed in 2012 by Angst, DOC & Blaster with the ambition to play fast, aggressive blackened thrash metal. A couple of years have past and the lineup changed over the years, Blaster was replaced by Moloch and Iron & Ghol joined the band.
Nekrokraft is, and will always be an extreme metal band, the strength in our sound is the mix between black metal`s mysticism, the velocity of thrash metal and the brutality of death metal. Different personalities and different musical preferences is a part of what creates that strength mentioned above, we all have our addictions in life.
3.Between 2012 to 2016 there was no new material being released, can you tell us a little bit more about what was going on during that time frame?
Well, we had some member changes, wrote a bunch of new songs, and played some live gigs. And of course we planned and recorded Will O` Wisp.
4.Your lyrics deal with Folklore and Occultism, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in these topics?
it’s our way of holding on to our legacy. The album title and song Will ‘o’ Wisp deals with the “Irrbloss” from swedish folklore, a glowing orb that lures unsuspecting people of the road, where they get lost and follow the light towards a watery grave. There is a problem with certain religions, and that is their need to control people and the lack of free will. Occultism, in different forms, have provided somewhat of an antipole towards the backward pious kind. We embrace the so called “dark path” towards enlightenment, because knowledge and wisdom lies within curiosity, independence and creativity.
5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Nekrokraft'?
We came up with the name under the influence of alcohol, discussing occult themes in the rehearsal space one late night in april 2012. Nekro stands for death, and kraft in swedish means power/force.
Power of the dead, maybe something occult, magical comes to mind, we leave it free for one's mind to interpret.
6.What are some of the best shows that the band has done so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
That's a tough question, we have done quite a few gigs since the beginning but we can mention some of the gigs. The Black Christmas festival had a great lineup (Mayhem, Marduk, Venom, Vader) and was also a great gig for us, and the show we played with God Dethroned amongst others in Stockholm the fall of 2016 was a really good gig. Otherwise there has been some really intense clashes in our hometown Linköping that turned out great. Our stage performance is intensive and full of energy, a real headbanging feast, the inspiration comes from the death & thrash metal scene rather than the black metal scene when it comes to the live show, high energy on stage, intensive crowd!
Gefle metal festival is the next stop for us, great lineup this year by the way! We are hopefully heading out in europe this fall for some long weekend runs if everything works out the way we are planning.
8.'The Sign Records' are re-issuing your 2016 album, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?
The Sign Records is an expansive record label composed of some of the most driven people here in Linköping. It consist of three formations that each carries its own essence. The Sign Records is managed by the Almost Religious label group based in Linköping, Sweden. We are pleased that we got the opportunity to work with people that are great, driven and has high ambitions for the music scene in Sweden.
9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of black and extreme metal?
Overall it has been great, we have people listening from almost all over the world and people reaching out showing their appreciation. We look forward to spread the Nekrokraft disease even further during 2017.
10.On the 2012 ep you had done a 'Bathory' cover, what was the decision behind doing your own version of this song?
You can consider it to be a celebration to the swedish old school metal. We wanted to do something raw, something extra, fitting in with the already rugged sound of the EP, and we all are big Bathory fans so we chose that path after a couple of beers.
11.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members are a part of?
Angst our vocalist is a hard working man and is currently preparing for summer & fall gigs with Witchery. When it comes to the other band members there is some projects going on, but if those projects will see the light of day, we don't know, time will tell.
As mentioned before Nekrokraft is an extreme metal band and will always be. Musically we will continue to blend the black, thrash and the death metal to create our sound. We don't play by any rules when it comes to the creating of Nekrokraft material. This group of people is very versatile when it comes to music and creating, and that in particular is a great quality for us as a band.
It's very broadly spread across the different members but of course we have a lot of bands in common, some of the good classic extreme metal bands like Bathory, Dissection, Entombed, Morbid Angel and Slayer to name a few. Nowadays it's a bit more of thrash metal i would say as the summer approaches, summer, thrash metal and beer blends perfectly, and of course you got to listen to some good ole guitar oriented blues.
First of all thank you for the interview! Keep supporting your local and national scenes, help to spread the art of extreme metal. Check out Nekrokraft, drink a lot of beer and hopefully we will meet in the dead of night.