“Symbolically, whenever I’m singing, I imagine I’m breathing fire,” explains Necrofier lead vocalist and guitarist Bakka. His long-winded screaming style—combined with writing under the blazing Texas sun—lend the black metal band their scorching character and distinctive aura. Bakka gives an appropriate take on the new album’s theme, “It’s your inner fire burning. It can’t be seen, but it’s burning inside of you.”
The Southern flamethrowers burn down the genre’s icy tropes once again via their sophomore full-length, Burning Shadows In the Southern Night, released in June on Season Of Mist. Bakka is pleased to observe how the new album is catching on worldwide, particularly where black metal originates: “Last record there was a little European interest, not a ton. I’d say there was more in America. This time, I’ve had a lot of friends in Europe—and people randomly in scenes I didn’t expect—posting about the record in Norway, Finland, and Sweden, especially.”
Along with fire-breathing vocals, Necrofier singe the status quo by blending conventional heavy metal with black metal. If there was any question this mixture would go over well with Europeans, the answer lies in their reaction, as Bakka reports, “You know, that’s black metal mecca. It’s not an easy world to break into, where you’re accepted being an American. I did a couple of interviews in Europe, and since our sound has traditional heavy metal in it, I forgot that all those dudes love heavy metal. They were talking about how the lyrical content isn’t tongue-in-cheek about their culture.”
The lyrical content instead explores more Americana themes such as famed blues musician Robert Johnson, who allegedly sold his soul for his otherworldly talent, and the intriguing realm of psychedelics. “I specifically try to stay a little different so it’s not the same satan, Lucifer worship all the time, which I fuckin’ love! A lot of people do it very well, so I don’t really need to add on to it,” notes the humble frontman.
Guest singers accompany Bakka on Burning Shadows In the Southern Night and contribute fiery spices to the album’s recipe. Cammie Beverly, wife of drummer Dobber Beverly and also his bandmate in Oceans Of Slumber, lays down her enchanting, operatic voice on a couple of songs. The opening track kicks off with hypnotic throat-singing in which Bakka stepped aside for, confessing, “The throat-singing is our friend Taylor (Schranck). He’s in some grindcore bands in New York (Orthopedic Cranial Encavement, and Immortal Suffering). I was gonna try to do a version of throat-singing that probably wasn’t proper. I didn’t really figure it out.”
As for the soprano, Rob Halford-esque wails, surprisingly it’s the percussionist who’s responsible. “That was actually Dobber,” Bakka laughs, “I was like, I really wanna do this, but for some reason it wasn’t in my range, or I burnt my throat out from doing vocals three days in a row. Dobber’s like, ‘I got it,’ and he just walks in there and does it, then does a harmony of it! I think everybody in the room was like, well, damn, he was badass. I don’t think anybody saw that coming.”
You can purchase Burning Shadows in the Southern Night on Bandcamp. Follow them on Facebook and Instagram for future updates.
