Necrophagist is a German technical death metal band, founded and fronted by
guitarist and vocalist Muhammed Suiçmez. The band is known for its rapid and
technical compositions. The name originates from the Greek roots
νεκρο- nekro- and -φαγος -phagos. This figuratively translates to eater of the
dead; literally the eater of dead bodies.
History Necrophagist's debut album Onset of
Putrefaction has been out of print for years. The percussion on the album was
handled by a drum machine. Eventually, a new edition with drum samples recorded
by Hannes Grossmann was created. All of the old guitar, bass guitar, and vocal
tracks were mixed along with the brand new drum samples. The re-release also
features two songs from Necrophagist's 1995 self-titled demo tape. The whole
album was also engineered by long-time Necrophagist engineer and producer
Christoph Brandes at The Iguana Studios. It was mastered by Bob Katz at "Digital
Domain", Orlando, Florida. The re-release was issued in 2004 by
Willowtip in the USA/Canada and Relapse in the rest of the world. In August
2001, Necrophagist performed at the Brutal Assault open air festival in the
Czech Republic. The band also returned to perform in the years 2001, 2003, 2005
and 2010. On February 10, 2006 it was announced
that Christian Münzner had departed the band due to scheduling conflicts. Later
on, he joined the death metal band Obscura. A replacement guitarist was
found, Sami Raatikainen, who is from Helsinki, Finland. Sami also plays in
the band Codeon. In 2006, the band undertook an American
tour called "Carving North America's Epitaph". Necrophagist was joined on
this tour by Arsis, Alarum, Neuraxis, Ion Dissonance, Cattle Decapitation and
Thine Eyes Bleed. They, along with Dying Fetus, supported Cannibal Corpse on
their U.S. tour in the fall, which also included some Canadian venues.
In 2007, the band announced on its Myspace profile that after the 2007
California Metalfest, drummer Hannes Grossmann would leave the band. Hannes
stated that he was unable to commit to the band's full-time touring schedule.
Marco Minnemann was the official permanent replacement for Hannes.
Necrophagist was a headlining act for The Summer Slaughter Tour in 2007, which
featured a wide variety of other extreme metal bands including Decapitated,
Arsis, The Faceless, Cephalic Carnage, As Blood Runs Black, and Cattle
Decapitation. In April 2008, Necrophagist announced
that Romain Goulon would be joining the band as their new drummer, replacing
Minnemann, who would still be working with Suiçmez on a side project.
Necrophagist played in the "Pillage the Village Tour" in 2008 from August 26,
2008 to September 10, 2008 with death metal bands Dying Fetus and Beneath the
Massacre. Shows in some areas also included Carcass, Suffocation, 1349, and
Aborted. In 2008, Necrophagist began work on its
next album with new drummer Romain Goulon. According to rumors, two
possible names were "The Path to Naught" and "Death to the Faithful". Suiçmez
stated that the band would be using seven-string guitars on the album.
Muhammed himself will be recording with a new custom shop Ibanez Xiphos guitar
with 7 strings, as well as 27 frets. Sami Raatikainen is now an Ibanez Guitar
endorser, using a 7 String RG-Series guitar on stage.
As of 2012, it is unknown if Necrophagist are still active, or have
plans to release a follow-up to "Epitaph". This has led to a large
amount of speculation on the part of fans, bewildered by the album's long
wait. However, in a statement made in August 2012, former drummer Marco
Minnemann stated there is indeed progress on a new album, saying "I know
people are waiting for the new Necro album so bad. Muhammed is a very close
friend of mine and I know he's really concerned about delivering the best
album possible. But I personally know there's progress....hang on in there,
I'm sure he'll deliver the goods." On September 11, 2013, drummer Romain
Goulon issued a statement that Necrophagist are still active and
attempting to record a new album, however no indication of when it would
be released was given. Members
= Current members= Muhammed Suiçmez – vocals, lead guitar
Stephan Fimmers – bass guitar Sami Raatikainen – rhythm guitar, lead
guitar Romain Goulon – drums
= Former members= Jan-Paul Herm – guitar
Matthias Holzapfel – guitar Raphael Kempermann – drums
Daniel Silva – drums Mario Petrovic – guitar
Slavek Foltyn – drums Björn Vollmer – guitar
Julien Laroche – bass guitar Christian Müenzner – guitar
Heiko Linzert – bass guitar Hannes Grossmann – drums
Marco Minnemann – drums Discography
Onset of Putrefaction Epitaph
References External links
Official website Necrophagist on Encyclopaedia Metallum
Necrophagist on Facebook