Necropanther Is Still Independent and Still Kicking Ass

Necropanther could be the fastest band in Denver right now, based on its latest record, Betrayal (released independently on March 3). The four longtime members have explored many sounds over the past decade together, including sludge, but the new stuff is a master class in speed-obsessed technical death metal.

“We were looking to more fully realize or expand on our general purpose, which was to defy those conventional norms and subgenres, push what’s allowable and defy what’s been there before,” says bassist Marcus Corich, adding simply that “playing fast is fun.”

“I think [Betrayal] was the fullest realization of that through our goals as individuals and goals as a collective,” he reflects.

And Necropanther isn’t interested in what other acts are doing or in sounding like them, says guitarist Joe Johnson. The band does what it wants when it wants, and that's resulted in four full-length records and a pair of EPs since forming in 2014. "There’s an orthodoxy in metal,” he says, and at this point it's easy for musicians to follow certain formulas when it comes to the many tried-and-true subgenres. But Johnson believes that ultimately leads to “stagnation and death.”

“We definitely want to subvert that,” he says. He knows how far heavy metal has come in fifty years, and says the music must keep progressing if the genre is to survive for another five decades.

"That’s the reason you see us manipulating those subgenres and bringing in other elements in subtle ways," Johnson explains. "I think about Gene Wilder in Young Frankenstein in bringing my own small contribution to metal and pushing it forward. That’s what we want to do. We want to excite people’s imaginations and show that there’s [more] life to this style of music than what’s happened in the last fifty years.”

Of course, speed is one way to get listeners all riled up. Take a song such as “One and Only”: It kicks off Betrayal with three minutes of face-melting fury and sets the tone for what’s to come over the ensuing ten tracks, which include everything from thrash to power metal.

“Playing drums that fast is a workout,” admits drummer Haaken Sjogren, “but I do take pride in not using any triggers on my kicks, like a lot of drummers in this genre do.”

That also takes a lot of discipline. Guitarist and vocalist Paul Anop says he and his bandmates "practice our asses off," and the band pours as much energy into its live shows as its songwriting process. “We really want people to feel like they’re listening to the album while they’re watching us play it. It’s not going to be too far off,” he adds. “It’s definitely taken a bit of engineering and ingenuity with pedal boards and harmonizers and loops, and a lot of preparing and planning and practice.”

And all that practice is working, as concert-goers will see when Necropanther plays Moe’s Original BBQ and Bowl on Saturday, May 13, with Goat Hill Massacre, DiseNgaged and Oros.

Necropanther’s prowess is also backed by the bandmates' years of experience: Johnson, Corich and Sjogren were members of former Denver heavy-metal band Moore, and Corich and Sjogren also previously played in local thrash band Havok. But with Necropanther, the four have definitely found their groove.

“This is the partnership we want to have for the rest of our careers, and to deliver the best records we can to the world for no other reason than for the pleasure of the audience,” Johnson says. “It’s not about an ego trip.”

But the band does take pride in the fact that its music stacks up to such peers as the Black Dahlia Murder and Dethklok, even if it isn’t supported by a major record label. It's not that Necropanther hasn't been approached before — how could any self-respecting metal label not take notice? — but a satisfactory deal for all involved could not be reached.

And that’s totally fine with them. Remaining a “fiercely independent band,” says Johnson, is a big priority for Necropanther.

“We’ve been playing in this scene a long time and doing what we’ve been doing for a long time, and just building it up on our own. We don’t have a label behind us. We don’t have a lot of money behind it, but we’ve been building our partnerships and building our musical collaborations, and that’s the way we operate,” Johnson says. "We’re a successful band on our own terms.”

“The number-one pro for us for not going for a major label is that we have control over our art no matter what happens. It’s not like we make an album and the label can do whatever they want with it as far as distribution and promotion,” Anop adds. “This is our art, and we can do whatever we want with it, and that’s important to us.”

In that sense, Necropanther is also the people’s champion.

“We want to be metal for everyone, and that’s why you see us mixing the subgenres that are most well trodden and trying to do something new in those types of styles,” Johnson says. “We want people to come in off the street who never heard metal before and be excited and have something that they can latch onto and a hook that they can take home with them, and find a whole new acceptance in this genre.”

Necropanther, 7 p.m. Saturday, May 13, Moe's Original BBQ & Bowl, 3295 South Broadway. Tickets are $12-$18.