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The band Nekropolis approached us with samples of their music and it turned out to be well played and interesting death/black metal and we decided to find out more about the band, which is haling from Switzerland. In order to find out more about their material, plans, ideas and thoughts, we decided to confront them with some questions. The whole band is participating in the interview, and the following is what they reveal about themselves........

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Gothina: Hello, Nekropolis! On your website the band's name is written in Greek. Can you tell me more about this?

  • Nekropolis: Hello Gothina! At first, thank you for this interview. Yes, it was a rainy day, Marc, Reto and Beni sat in a bar in the afternoon, drinking beer and thinking about the new project they started. They wanted something special. They decided to push a knife into a loan German-Greek dictionary to take the word, where the knife point would stop, as the name of the new band. Fortunately the word meant something suitable to their idea of an image of a band in those days: to be dark and evil...you know? Nekropolis means - the city of the dead or a burial place.

Gothina: Growing up, who were your main influences in music?

  • Nekropolis: That was absolutely different, but everyone of us listened all the old fucking great sound of Metallica, Kreator, Cannibal Corpse, Dimmu Borgir and Cradle Of Filth. Gods like Chuck Schuldiner, Gene Hoglan and Cynic also marked us. Years later, acts like Strapping Young Lad, Slipknot and perhaps Marylin Manson inspired us to put samples and other electronic shit into our music. In the beginning, the core of the matter was that it was rebellious! All this to-be-evil trash was in our heads, when we were 16 years old.

Gothina: When does your new album "The Perversion Of Humanity" come out and are you happy with the final result of your work?

  • Nekropolis: The coming out had been planned on January 2004, but we had to learn really what it means to produce a full length album. To plan and to do it, are two absolute different things. Now the date is fixed on 23rd December 2004 - almost one year later ;-) About the result of the production we are more than satisfied. We had a lot of professional support and there were miles between the expected and the got result. But anyway, that is among other things why it took a long time. Everything took more time than we thought, but that is also the reason why the product is as good produced and designed. We have to thank to all the people who gave us their very good connections and their knowledge!

Gothina: Which is your favourite song to perform and do you like making covers of other bands?

  • Nekropolis: Hum, basically we have three favourite songs to perform. On the one hand, of course, the opener of the new album "The Perverted Ideology", on the other hand "One Day In Hell" and "Shadows Of Profanity. We think these are the most completed songs. They reflecting really our innermost part. When Chuck Schuldiner was still alive we was booked for a charity concert for the research of brain tumours. The condition was, to play one cover song from Death. So we performed "Lack Of Comprehension" from the album "Human". We still play it until today. In the past we already played covers like "Mourning Palace" from Dimmu Borgir and something unusual for a Death Metal band: "My Own Summer (Shove It)" from the Deftones. But usually we could not reach an agreement on one song and we drop it.

Gothina: One of your songs was used successfully in the film genre . Can you tell me the details and name your favourite horror movies?

  • Nekropolis: Daniel Steffen from "astonish sfx" began to produce some low budget splatter movies. Once he asked, if we were interested in making a video clip about one of our songs. We sat together and selected the song with the worst and most macabre lyrics - "Organ Removement". So he sketched a screenplay and started to take plaster casts from our arms, heads and thoraxes. For the organs he took innards from the butchery. Slowly a collection of dummies were born. As luck would have it, his studio burned down before we were able to start with the first takes. The rebuilding of the dummies took one half year. It was the first time to be on set for everyone of us and the worst problem was not to laugh during cutting someone's cranium off...hehe! It was a very funny time! The clip is very brutal and sick. Just a splatter movie. Daniel published a DVD including a making-of, photo gallery and another short film. Actually there is a group of interested people in Germany and the clip will be presented on little film festivals...the most aimed at the horror and splatter genre. Dawn Of The Dead is one of the best horror movies, which was published since a long time. Otherwise we like a lot of movies: Return Of The Living Dead, The Dentist, Braindead, Evil Ed, Cannibal Holocaust, all the Dario Argento stuff and many, many more.

Gothina: Have you ever played at festivals (which ones)?

  • Nekropolis: Yes, once we could play in the replacement for Look Up at the Metal Dayz in Pratteln/ Switzerland. The others were very small open-airs in Switzerland, but never like "Bang Your Head", "Wacken" or "Dynamo". We have a lot of fun, if the crowd is sink into the filth when it is raining ;-) We hope we get the chance to perform at festivals beyond the frontier in 2005.

Gothina: Describe your live performances.

  • Nekropolis: We love live performances! It is the time, we overexert us down to the last bit. It is the reason why we start to making music and we hope the feeling on concerts will never go past. On stage we melt down to one...trying to leave the crowd satisfied and in well memories to the performance.

Gothina: Do you have any side projects?

  • Nekropolis: Not really. Reto plays with some other musicians, but just for fun. Now and then, Thies is acting as a live drummer with some bands. There is not enough time to do something seriously. Nekropolis takes a lot of our lives. Marc and Beni actually start to record and produce some unknown bands in our own little studio. After the production of "The Perversion Of Humanity" they are addicted to recording-sessions...;-)

Gothina: How do you feel before and after a concert?

  • Nekropolis: The frequently asked question after a show is: "Where is the beer?"...uuhaha! The feelings are mostly tired but happy and later a mix of tiredness and drunkenness ;-) Sometimes we had the need for analyze the show, but anyway, this belongs not really to an after-gig party. Before a show it is different. Sometimes we are a little bit nervous...it all depends what is approaching us. Usually we are in a good mood and glad to perform a show. Right before we enter the stage, we are very concentrated and ready for action.

Gothina: Which is the band you would love to support (play with)?

  • Nekropolis: There are several, but Dimmu Borgir, Cradle Of Filth, Slayer, Slipknot or Nevermore would be great bands to support. Okay, this are the very big ones in the whole cake...but it is allowed to dream of... ;-)

Gothina: How do you feel if someone compares you to a famous band - is it annoying or rather flattering?

  • Nekropolis: In a way it is a confirmation for what we do. It all depends whether the comparison is meant positive or negative ;-) At the end we do what we like and try to be faithful to our own thing.

Gothina: Have you got any plans to tour Europe and present your album?

  • Nekropolis: Yes, of course! Unfortunately it is not as easy as some people think. It is really hard to find clubs in other countries, who are able to book unknown bands. But we try everything and are with the best intensions. Actually we are in cooperation with a German booking agency. We are really looking forward to get deals easier in the future. A few contacts and new possibilities came about the last months. We hope to tour Europe and Scandinavia in the second half of 2005.

Gothina: What inspired you to start recording the album?

  • Nekropolis: After five years of giving concerts in clubs and reached what was possible in our region, we had a time when we asked us, if we still are standing behind the band. What do we really want? The result was, that we were interested in a deal with a well known label and would like to tour Europe. Not only that - we produced two demo CD's before and all we ever want was to have, at least, one full length album. So we began to contact some people in the business and suddenly we were in the middle of the production.

    Gothina: Who wrote the lyrics of the songs? Can you quote part of a song which is a kind of the band's ideas?
  • Nekropolis: Marc is responsible for the verbal emissions. The most of them are about the sickness and insignificance of our system. That is why we named the album The Perversion Of Humanity. Between the lines they deal with social problems, politics and religions. We are not satanic, but incredulous...hehe! One part in Bloody Bastards says:
    - we shall do penance for the mankind
    - vouch for the failure of our system
    - disdained - outcast, grow into this insanity
    - forlorn - useless, no affability
    - the abstinence of participation
    - collaborate with the isolation
    - wake up you whores of a social minority
    - stand up and fight for your rights - you bloody bastards

Gothina: Imagine that at one of your gigs there are not enough people. Would you play live for the ones who have come to see you?

  • Nekropolis: What? But of course! The most important thing is the music, so it does not matter how many people visiting our shows. We already played a few times in front of an empty room. When we are on the stage, we fall into ecstasies and have our own party, you know? Every single person who got a lot of pleasure and paid the admission fee for a show have the right to get the show. We are not that kind of an arrogant band who don't give a fuck what's about their fans.

Gothina: How do you guys get along with each other? Are there any relatives in the band (Thies and Marc for example)?

  • Nekropolis: Yes, Thies and Marc are brothers. Marc is the older one. They had already a band with Reto in school. Marcel and the new live guitarist David, know each other from a former band too. We all grew up in the same region so the most spent the school days together. That is some kind of inbreeding...hahaha!

Gothina: What does your band mean to you?

  • Nekropolis: Pleasure! Having a good time and real good friends. We are a circle of shared identity and want to reach something seriously together. Everyone can express and realize his ideas. That is very important for Nekropolis.

Gothina: I hate to put labels on bands but how will you define the style of Nekropolis ( death, black, etc.)?

  • Nekropolis: Hum...we hate it too. Usually we declare Nekropolis as a black and death metal band, whose neck-breaking groove attacks are decorated with melodic synthesizer sounds. A deep grunting and a screeching voice fight against each other. Nekropolis shows you all the hatred and sickness against everything.

Gothina: Name 3 things that make you really happy?

  • Nekropolis: Sex, drugs and Nekropolis!...uuuahahaha!

Gothina: Good luck and what's your message to your fans?

  • Nekropolis: We hope to see a lot of you at our upcoming shows and spend a really good time together! Cheers and don't forget who you are, bloody bastards! ;-) Stay brutal!

That was all I had for now, Nekropolis - the staff at metalcovenant.com wish you all the very best for the future, and we sincerely want to thank you for keeping the spirit of Metal alive!

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Beni Weber (keyboards)
Marcel Rösch (guitar)
Marc Steiner ( vocals)
Reto Wittwer (bass/vocals)
Thies Steiner (drums)
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Related links:

www.nekropolis.ch