As we continue to showcase a different band from our Fresh Flesh 2011 CD, check out Romanian black metallers Akral Necrosis.

Given that for the past few years now fans and the press alike have been increasing looking towards Eastern, rather than Northern, Europe for their black metal kicks, maybe the time is  right for Akral Necrosis. Coming straight outta Bucharest, Romania's capital, this band play black metal that they say is “filled with agression”. While that descriptor alone might make you think of the most savage 'war metal' bands, Akral Necrosis have a fair dose more rock in their music, with overtones of thrash alongside the black metal. We caught up with the five-piece's vocalist Octav to see what he had to say for himself.

What does the band's name mean?
"Akral Necrosis is the Greek term for the necrosis provoked by the Black Death. The name is a metaphor for the human soul, especially the dark sides. This is part of our concept which goes around the idea that you must embrace your dark side if you wish to enlighten yourself, as we humans are violent by nature."

How would you describe the band's sound? What bands have influenced you?
"We call ourselves a black metal band, but our sound is influenced by thrash and death metal. It's hard to say which bands influenced us the most. All members of the band have very different tastes when it comes to music. The thing I really hate is recipes when it comes to music. I see tons of bands saying 'We're gonna sound like X or Y.' Fuck that! We don't write our music by rules. We just wrote a 9 minute track with a 1:30 approximately long solo."

What is the metal scene like where the band are based? Are there other bands out there like you?
"The metal scene in Romania is growing, we have great bands in most genres, some of them are a must-listen (check out Satanochio, Mediocracya and Snapjaw). Our main problem is the lack of interest from the public. A few years ago, we didn't have a lot of big gigs and everybody was hungry. All that changed. Now big names come to Romania and nobody gives a shit about the local bands, or underground bands from other countries. But there is a very loyal fan base here, although  it's pretty small. But these things made us work harder and most of the bands here can be described as DIY. We're not in it for the money and that keeps the music very honest, underground. There aren't any bands who play [music] similar to us."

How often do you play live? Where have you played?
"We used to play live very often, we were addicted! The band formed in 2006, by late 2007 we started gigging and we never stopped until last year in November. We played all over the country, sharing the stage with some great bands like Negura Bunget, Ancient Rites, Necrodeath, Cirith Gorgor, Hecate Enthroned and so on. I don't regret it, but it delayed our first album for a very long time. Now our plan is record, go on tour, record, go on tour.  The only gig we had this year was at a great fest - OST Mountain Festival, headlined by Onslaught and Keep of Kalessin."