Track By Tracks: NECRONOMICON - Unus (2019)

1. From Ashes into Flesh:

Probably my favorite track of the album. We wanted to start grandiose like the previous album but more intense right of the bat. Where the previous was building the vibe this one kick you in the teeth right away. Also Geirlioz (Dimmu Borgir) piano part is epic, himself said it's probably the fastest part he ever played. I just like how that song is really in your face but super ambient at the same time.

2. Infinitum Continuum:

That kind of mellow mid-tempo but the groovy song is the kind I like to do to break the blast beat all the way craziness, not that the fast part is not intense. I really wanted to start with some drums pattern and in fact that the first thing that I composed. The rhythm of the guitar is totally influenced by the drum pattern, so if I can say the song is inspired by the drums and not the other way around. Not the first time I do that and I give a different optic for a song. Also 1 of the only 2 guitar solo of the album, that one is soft and really melodic, I wanted an emotional simple and beautiful theme because the fastest part of the song to make the cut even more brutal.

3. Paradise Lost:

The first single and the most brutal blast beat we ever did at 300 bpm with full bass drums all over the place. I really wanted a super black metal entrance, raw fast and, if can say, a bit sloppy especially for the guitars. At first, I thought it was too fast and especially for the drums, but Divider (drums) told me he would be able to play it and to no worry about it and just write it the way I wanted. To be honest we even tried at 320 bpm but the song was losing all the feeling lol! I knew I was going for the super brutal and down to more precise and accurate and even emotional toward the end, all that was planned. That song is more personal to me compare to what I write usually that is always more into Necronomion concept decided for each album.

4. The Price of a Soul:

I had that orchestral for years in my head, over 10 years for sure maybe even 20. The innocence and simplicity toward life that we are born with are robbed and corrupted by what has been past to us by our parents. We become puppets for life and replicate that partner with our own children. And it goes on and on.

5. Singularis Dominus:

I consider this one to be a standard Necronomicon song, I mean all the band signature things are almost there, well that's my point of view. Good blasting, long bass drums parts and epic choir with lyrics about self-empowerment, Necronomicon you know. It doesn't look like it but this one is pretty hard to play compared to most of our songs, some parts are really more tricky than I sound. The middle part where all the orchestra and band do the same thing is especially hard to play, but the result is epic and of course pretty intense. 

6. The Thousands Masks:

Its the Part 3 of what we started 20 years ago with the song ''Pharaoh of Gods'' and the one we are working on right now for the new video clip. It is the first song that was composed for that new album and it came all together in a matter of minutes. This one is super ambient and one of the best I ever wrote in that vibe from my point of view. It is really simple but the grooves and feelings are dead on track and also it's really fun to play. We also cross the line with our original inspiration from 30 years ago, the now more popular than before HP Lovecraft. We started to revisit some of that on the last 3 albums.

7. Ascending the Throne of Baator:

Another one that I had in my head for a long time. I always love to go full-on blast beat or go the opposite way, and I have been doing that since day one. Throne is one of the best examples of how and why I see ambiance is important over complexity. The atmosphere is where the real art is created and that's probably why hell is a better place to create than heaven because there's simply more to talk about. In that sense, I have more respect for a band creating ambiance and texture over bands that go full-on technical, technical music, even a monkey with a given time can do that.

8. Fhtagn: 

Those dark ambiances that I like. Yes, I always do that, one is orchestral melodic and the other is dark space or deep water depth vibe where creatures lurk in a somber maze, and especially the maze between your ears. You hear or see what you want to ear or see with that one.

9. Cursed (MMXIX):

Because of the 30th anniversary of the band (31 now), we wanted to revisit a song from our first release in 1991. Of course, we knew that it would be more basic and less what we are now but at the same time, we heard in that song some hint of what the band would become with time, it's not a big thing but its there and that especially in the main first verse after the intro part. We thought that song was the one also that aged better compare to the others.

10. Vox Draconis:

The most groovy and the one that competes for the number one favorite song of the album if I can say. That one came together really quick too, again I had the main guitar riffing in my head for so long. I just play what I feel and I really don't try to fit in a genre or anything like that, I always do what I want and the way I want it and for me it is super important as an artist that I go with the flow and don't force things, that song is probably the best example. The second guitar solo of the album, I wanted it to be more intense but full on and as most people I notice I don't have a modern kind of playing, so there's a lot of grooves here. It is longer also than most guitar solo I did in the past but again I let the music talk and didn't force anything so that the way it came. The final of the song is the best way you can finish an album and its why the song is not higher on the play order.