Chicago’s Necronomicon Ex Mortis was formed by Michael Nystrom Bala out of a desire to combine elements of classic death metal, 80s shred worship, and gory lyrics about B-horror movies. After writing far too many songs, Michael contacted guitarist Manuel Barbara, who joined the band because he had “nothing better to do”. Shortly after, bassist Yusuf Rashid joined the band so he could escape the jazz world and play music people would listen to outside of an elevator. The three amigos then enlisted fellow Berklee Bros Craig Schmuhl and Joey Ferretti, on vocals and drums respectively. Apparently, they didn’t have much better to do, either. Now the intrepid quintet is releasing their second EP “Silver Bullet” to follow their self-titled that was released at the beginning of 2023. They hope these new blends of shred and horror will keep you up at night. They share their thoughts on the first single “Crypt of The Gorilla God”:
“This is a song about getting ripped apart by a giant undead ape. Musically, the song is thrashy, takes a number of interesting turns, and has a huge helping of guitar solos. We chose this as our single because it’s a lead pipe to a brick wall, possibly with your face in between.”
Fully embracing the saying “variety is the spice of life”, fans will notice the wide array of influences on this EP. Necronomicon Ex Mortis is not just pulling from the same band or the same style of metal, but keeping it dynamic with shredding riffs, guttural vocals, and dashes of acoustic experimentation. The band aspires to bring back the celebration of the twin guitar attack that bands like Iron Maiden and Racer X had. There’s a lot of great guitar playing out there right now, but to them, it lacks that celebratory playing that a lot of bands of the 80s did.
This upcoming release will keep listeners on their toes, especially those who enjoy B-Movies, campy horror, Arsis, The Black Dahlia Murder, and Racer X.
13.7.2023 (ASHER MEDIA RELATIONS)
