Heavy Rotation: Necropanther
There’s nothing quite like good melodic death metal, which is why Necropanther keep making it. The Denver-based death/thrash outfit recently released their fourth album, Betrayal, and it’s a high-speed heater. Since we’re still spinning it at MetalSucks HQ, we got with the band to find out what music they listen to when they’re not composing death metal.
Ssion – “ Clown”
Ssion is my favorite pop artist. This album is always in my car and whenever this tune comes on, it makes me happy. I really love all of their music videos as well.– Paul Anop (Guitar and Vocals)
Exhumed – “N.M.F.O.”
Exhumed is my go-to gore metal band and I was super stoked when I heard this song. It’s pretty self-explanatory. If you are a nazi or racist, don’t listen to our band. We don’t need your negativity and hate. Paying homage to The Dead Kennedys nazi punks fuck off in metal is a cool idea and a message that the metal world needs.– Paul Anop (Guitar and Vocals)
Dying Fetus – “Unbridled Fury”
These guys are straight brutality. They are really talented at what they do. Unique, weird riffs, odd timing, and all in a three piece. They are super tight live and sound exactly like the records. This was released a few weeks ago as a single. I am looking forward to hearing more in the near future. – Paul Anop (Guitar and Vocals)
Nuclear Rabbit – “Chernobyl Hamster”
Nuclear Rabbit is a band that has a special place in my heart. This band is irreverent, frenetic, and brazenly unconventional. I love how they defy convention and make music that is virtuosic without losing the sense of fun. They play whatever the fuck they want, a level of freedom and enjoyment that I strive for. – Marcus Corich (Bass and Vocals)
Dystopia – “Leaning with Intent to Fall”
Dystopia’s short career and minimal output belies the raw gravity of their music. Over three albums they blended hardcore, punk, death metal, sludge and simple melody in a scathing, almost proto-doom assault. An intentionally lo-fi, abrasive criticism of modern American society that is just as relentlessly challenging and pertinent today as it was two decades ago.– Marcus Corich (Bass and Vocals)
Mercyful Fate – “Come to the Sabbath”
What an amazing album Don’t Break the Oath is. King Diamond is truly one-of-a-kind and untouchable in my opinion. 70s-esque riffing and leads all couched in King’s operatic, nasally falsetto and satanic everything – pioneering, undeniable, fun.—Marcus Corich (Bass and Vocals)
Neil Young & Crazy Horse – “Cortez the Killer (Live)”
This is Neil Young’s most profound statement as a soloist and an excellent song. The Weld live record and its companion, Arc, are my favorites from his diverse catalog. He’s a brilliant guitar player and songwriter, as well as an icon of hi-fi retro production.
The first practice space I used to go to had the poster from Ragged Glory with his big honkin’ custom pedalboard. I’ve been chasing that dragon since I was 13. Just listen to Weld, the live record from the same era. It’s the sound of real guitars feeding back, playing with your friends, and playing songs the audience wants to hear in a way they’ve never imagined before. Tonight’s the night, indeed.– Joe Johnson (Guitar)
Nevermore – “The River Dragon Has Come”
American power metal. Technical, melodic, foreboding, powerful, extended register, iconoclastic. There’s nothing stock about the melodies, and there’s nothing forced about how the technical instrumental parts work together. It’s a slick production, but they play with a lot of character, not trying to emulate any other band. Just incredible players reinventing the vocabulary of melodic metal. I love how unapologetically odd the melodic bridge is, especially in an obvious single.– Joe Johnson (Guitar)
Thin Lizzy – “Róisín Dubh (Black Rose): A Rock Legend”
As the resident “dad rock” guy in the band, there are tons of options for me here. We listen to a lot of Thin Lizzy, as everyone should, but this is my favorite. The sprawling middle section is unequaled in the rock repertoire. While there are fabulous singles on the record, it’s clear that they made this song for themselves, for their home, and for their particular sense of nostalgia. Those are the qualities that artistic people should seek out, and here they are, raw and pure, from everyone’s favorite 1970s arena rock underdogs.– Joe Johnson (Guitar)
Children of Bodom – “Trashed, Lost & Strungout”
Whenever I go running, I pick a Children of Bodom album to play through from beginning to end. “Trashed, Lost & Strungout” is a highlight on Are You Dead Yet? and keeps me running until the end of the album. Bodom’s melodies and song structures made them unique in the genre. – Haakon Sjogren (Drums)
Avenged Sevenfold – “Exist”
I know when many of my fellow metal-friends think of Avenged Sevenfold, they often don’t think about their musicianship in a positive light. “Exist,” to me, checks many boxes that qualify it as a special song. It’s split into three parts, the first being an excellent instrumental, the second being calmer vocals part, and the last being a re-recording of excerpts from Chapter 12, “Reflections on the Cosmic Perspective,” from Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, voiced by Neil himself. I listen to “Exist” when I wish for my mind to escape into a temporary void.– Haakon Sjogren (Drums)
Keep of Kalessin – “Vengeance Rising”
Keep of Kalessin is one of my all time favorites. Marcus and I jam “Crown of the Kings” and “Vengeance Rising” sometimes once the band has met their rehearsal goals, and it always puts me in an extremely happy mood. Keeping the blasts and kicks going becomes meditating.– Haakon Sjogren (Drums)
