Brazil's metal scene is just as insane and devoted as it was 4 decades ago, when bands such as Vulcano, Sepultura, Chakal, Sarcofago, Holocausto, Mutilator and others poisoned the minds of many youths with a message of rebellion, inspiring them to fight against oppression and all false values. As their bands come and go, the core principle remains the same, and is passed on from one generation to another. One of these newer generations of bands from Brazil is Sodomy, a black metal/punk band, which originally started as a one-man project by Kadu Necro Defunto before two new members Celtic and Krakör joined the lineup. The band released their self-titled debut album Sodomy, which was met with mostly positive reviews that regard it as a pure first wave black metal worship. Join me on this journey as I share a few words with Kadu Necro Defunto, where we talk about his band Sodomy and the potential future that awaits.

Vladimir

Greetings Kadu! First of all, I'd like to wish you a warm welcome on behalf of the MetalBite crew.

First of all, thank you for the interview provided, and for the space for me to communicate.

A few months ago, Sodomy released their debut full-length album and judging from the numerous comments, people really seem to like it, some even more than the previously released "Bleed Like A God" demo. What was your initial reaction when you saw the comments? Were you surprised to see that people enjoyed your album?

Our first demo received a mixed review, some people liked it and others didn't, already our self titled album received a much more positive review, I was very happy with the reception from the public, they seem to have really liked it, we made money for Bandcamp, many views on YouTube and many people wanting CDs.

Sodomy suddenly went on hold sometime after release of the self-titled debut album, but quickly reactivated after a few months. Could you please explain what led to the band being inactive for that brief period?

The production of the first album was fun but stressful, soon after we released the album, I needed to rest a little, not do anything related to music, we also had discussions between the band members and people outside the band, the environment was not good to continue so we stopped for a while, but a short time I remembered "pear there, The band is mine! I'm not going to stop playing because of other worms!" so I went back with the band.

The style of Sodomy's music is quite old school in terms that you can hear that it is very much influenced by first wave black metal, but you can also feel the elements of thrash, speed metal and hardcore punk. I am curious to know what inspired you to take on the first wave black metal style rather than the second wave style which is still predominantly used by many bands worldwide?

The speed black metal style with hardcore punk influence comes from my childhood, I grew up listening to Bad Brains, Dead Kennedys, Million Of Dead Cops, Minor Threat, Ratos De Porão, Os Replicantes, etc. then at the age of 13 I started venturing into black metal, especially in the second wave, Mayhem, Burzum, Carpathian Forest, Darkthrone, Taake, etc. a little more searching and met speed metal, Bathory, Venom, Celtic Frost, Hellhammer, etc. then I realized that I could join punk and metal without being judged by some idiots, so I started doing some riffs on the guitar, at the age of 15 I recorded the first demo, and at the age of 15 to 16 I recorded the first album.

Besides musical influences, are there any works of art, literature or film that inspired Sodomy's work?

Influences outside of music I don't have, but our bassist Celtic has several, including the song 'Zodd, The Immortal' that Celtic wrote, it's inspired by Berserk, there's also a song that was left off the album but that was inspired by a real case in Brazil, that a bird killed a person.

The recording of Sodomy's full-length album very much resembles an old school demo from the days of tape trading. Will you be sticking so far with this style of sound or will you work more on your production for a future release?

The bad quality (Necrosound) was not very purposeful, because we all have shitty equipment, and we don't have many features, but all this generated Necrosound that personally makes me satisfied, but now for the next album, we will take a more pro deathrash direction, compared to the previous album, I will certainly have a better quality, but not too far from what black metal is.

Sodomy originally started as a one-man project which was solely led by you, but then you quickly introduced two new members to the lineup, Celtic and Krakör, both of which participated on the debut album. What is the story when the two of them joined the band and did the recording session for the debut album start once they became part of Sodomy's lineup?

After reading the reviews of the demo Bleed Like A God, I realized that I needed to find musicians to join Sodomy, soon I met Kräkor in the chat group of Podrera Records, she already knew and liked Sodomy, but did not know me, so soon we met and became friends, initially I was with a war metal band called Gutsfuck that soon ended, so I called her to join Sodomy, and a few weeks later we posted on Instagram that we were looking for a bass player, coincidentally, the Co-founder of Podrera Records, Celtic, is a bassist, he saw the ad on Instagram and asked to join, so I accepted, and I do not regret, he is an amazing friend and even wrote my favorite song from the album, the track 'Zodd, The Immortal', our relationship during the recording of the first album was very good.

From what I've seen your demo "Bleed Like A God" also got a CD release via an underground label/distro Podrera's Records from Brazil. Will there be a CD release of the full-length Sodomy album as well? Also, were there high demands by people for physical releases?

Talking about the CDs, there were a considerable number of people wanting CDs, tapes and even shirts, we earned a good amount of money by Bandcamp, with this money we will produce CDs of the full album (runs of 20 copies), and later shirts too, in Canada a distro released CD of our demo in a small print run of 5 copies, soon he will produce the full album too, in Brazil we have a distro manufacturing CDs of our full album and they seem to have the will to release our demo, anyway, we are struggling to release CDs of Sodomy, we have a lot of desire to release Vinyl, but for a guy to pay for all this is very expensive, and I do not money haha, so Vinyl only if a distro wants to pay.

Thank you so much for the interview, Kadu. I hope that Brazil's hardcore and dedicated metal scene will provide a great amount of support for Sodomy's future. Are there any final words you'd like to leave to your fans?

Thank you so much for the interview, I wanted to thank Rebecca (from Endemoniada Zine) for always supporting me, Celtic Hugo for being an amazing friend, and Léo Anticristo for being a awesome guy, Hails Podrera.

Norwegian black metal remains popular even 3 or 4 decades later, it's obviously one of the country's biggest cultural exports thanks to its rich catalog of great and well-known bands. Even though many may think that it lost its edge, I think otherwise. No matter how many bands come and go, there will always be a great deal of enthusiastic fans who enjoy this music and the youth is constantly inspired to become black metal musicians like their idols. One of those new generation Norwegian black metal bands that climbed its stairs to success, is the band Mork. Mork has been around almost 20 years since its foundation in 2004, with every new release they only seem to get stronger and probably for a good reason. Thomas Eriksen, the founder and creative mind behind the band, manages to maintain the creative spirit of Mork which still flows through every catchy riff and memorable song. Their music still holds up in my opinion, and even though it's a new generation band, it possesses the musical DNA of the bands from the 90's. I've decided to share a few words with the man himself, and enter the gray world of Mork.

Vladimir

Greetings Thomas, I wish you a warm welcome on behalf of the MetalBite crew! Your sixth album "Dypet" is coming out soon and there is such immense hype around it. How do you feel knowing that MORK has come a long way since its early days all the way here to see its sixth album being released?

Honestly, it is a bit surreal. I remember clearly the time I made Isebakke and stood there without a label, without a band and with just this raw idea in my hand. When I first got signed, then to the Canadian small label, I started getting a feeling of "shit, how far will this carry on?". And as a result of a busy mind always digging deep into songwriting and other Mork related stuff, all the sudden we are 10 ten years down the road, staring at the release of my sixth album. Now backed by a legendary label for years and seems to be growing slightly each year. I am grateful and don't take it for granted.

MORK has been a proud member of the Peaceville Records family for a long time. Will the band be staying under the label's roof in the future?

By today Peaceville has my entire catalog on their roster, which is a big showing of confidence and appreciation. They never question or try to have creative control, which results in me providing as honest and pure art as possible. It has been and still is an honor for me to work with them. We are currently signing a new record deal, so it will continue for some time to come.

"Katedralen" still remains the strongest album in MORK's discography two years since its release and although it was released when the COVID pandemic was still a big thing, has the album given a big boost to the band's popularity and was there a much bigger demand to see MORK live even amidst the pandemic?

Yes, the album has been a level up in many ways, as each album seems to have been since the beginning. A slow but steady increase over the years. It seems we do play a bit of shows and get some demand here and there, however I don't feel we play as much as I would have wanted. That's a hint to the bookers out there; reach out!

The Norwegian black metal scene has always been on the highest top more than any other black metal scene in the world, but a lot of musicians in the Norwegian scene claim that it has lost its touch or that it's no longer living up to its name. Do you think that is the case and can MORK be considered something of a revival within Norwegian black metal?

I used to say that the early scene consisted of young people who were all burning for an idea and image. Let that scene be what it was back then. After these kids grew up, the art lived on. That is what MORK is a result of, the art itself. I have no interest or intention of acting a certain way to be considered as "true". I let the music do the talking. And honestly, I can't say if MORK is a revival of Norwegian black metal or not, that is up to the listener. I just do what I do, which is creating my music my own way. It has become an essential and important part of my existence.

Your music sounds very much inspired by Norwegian folklore and nature. While listening to the music and looking at the cover art of each album, I can feel the atmosphere of Theodor Kittelsen's surreal art. What serves as your biggest inspiration of any form besides music that helps you create and shape the world of MORK?

It is simply just what comes out of my fingers and out of my mind. I don't have any specific influence, honestly. When creating the first couple albums I was very smitten with the atmosphere and feel that I got from Burzum and early Darkthrone stuff. But now in later years, MORK has become its own voice, in a way. I just follow whatever flow that comes to me at the moment. But, it is the thoughts that I have and how I see the world. My own demons are a sure influence.

I know that a lot of fans have been following your podcast show for quite some time, but how did you come up with the idea to start the podcast and how many people have discovered MORK through the podcast?

The podcast came along at the beginning of covid. It was when the first shows got canceled and the world shut down. I figured it was as good a time as any to try this out. At the time I was intrigued by the concept of it all. A relaxed setting over a coffee or a beer without any written questions and such. I enjoyed the chill atmosphere of the podcast format. I have more or less quit now, to be honest. Perhaps an episode will come along, but they aren't as focused as before. That is mainly due to world opening back up and I am busy with MORK. I have noticed that the amount of listeners grew significantly, and I suppose many of them had never heard MORK before.

Your first album "Isebakke" is turning 10 years old in 2023, looking back at that period and now, how do you perceive the band's natural progression since its release back in 2013?

Those exact words, actually; "natural progression". That is exactly how it has evolved. I am glad that I decided to let the art come spontaneously rather than me pre-deciding a narrow path of true black metal, or whatever. MORK has grown into an independent thing, in my eyes and ears. So much so that I have decided to start a side project, which will be unveiled later on.

Although MORK is one of the new generation Norwegian black metal bands, the songs clearly possess that musical DNA of the bands from the 90's. How do you approach your songwriting to create such an authentic experience without completely borrowing/copying styles of bands such as Darkthrone, Burzum, Immortal etc?

Here we are getting back to the fact that I let inspiration flow spontaneously. That way I won't copy anything or anyone. That I hit the mark of sounding authentic, is more or less by chance. Though, sometimes I do audit myself if something feels too far outside what little perimeters I do have. Enough people copy and try to sound like certain things out there, I don't want to be one of those. Then it's not your sound is it?

Are there any interesting concepts you haven't explored before or felt that you haven't explored enough in the past but you'd wish to incorporate into the music of MORK?

Luckily there are many concepts and influences to be discovered. Let's see what they might be when I first stumble upon them.

I know that musicians are mostly proud of every new album they come out with, but some usually are mostly fond of their earlier stuff for personal reasons, so which MORK album holds a special place in your heart and for what reason?

I have to stand each and every album, so they are sort of my children in a way. I suppose it comes down to the circumstances that surround each album, that dictates which one that stands out. Isebakke was made in a void and later got picked up by a label which led to everything we have today. Eremittens Dal got me signed to Peaceville Records. Det Svarte Juv came out of a really dark period in my personal life. Hard to pick. All the albums are all part of the saga of MORK.

Thank you so much for doing this interview, Thomas. I wish you all the best with the release of "Dypet" and I hope to see MORK live on a European tour one day. Are there any final words you'd like to leave to all your fans reading this?

I thank you for your attention. MORK should do a proper EU tour. Hopefully a tour-booker reads this and can set the wheels in motion on that one. We are scheduled for a couple of German dates as well as the Brutal Assault in Czech this year. Hopefully the list will expand some. To any new listeners, I appreciate your time, hopefully it is something for you. If not, then that's fine too. To the ones already with us, forever hail!!