NightWraith are really interesting band based in Denver, USA and it was about time for me to chat with them a bit for my webzine. So, here we go.

First of all, hails from Croatia and welcome to Kraykulla Webzine. Could you tell a bit more about musical entity called Nightwraith for readers who didn´t hear of your opus yet?

-Thank you for taking the time to speak to me about NightWraith, I am excited to share more information about the band! We formed NightWraith 6 years ago with no preconceived notion of genre. We didn’t want to box ourselves into a specific sound because we desired complete musical freedom. Our goal was to focus 100% of our energy on creating a quality musical experience, rather than try to fit an image. We released a self-titled record in 2019, and were happy with it. There were a lot of cool ideas on it, but we were able to refine our sound and write a more cohesive album, which is apparent with our new album “Offering”. It is pulling in a lot of classic rock influences, and the keyboards give it a very ‘Deep Purple’ kind of vibe. However, the vocals remain heavy enough for this to be considered death metal, and the music explores some very classic territory!

What does death metal, or melodic death metal means to you? Or extreme metal in general?

-Death metal and extreme music has always been a healthy outlet for me, and is its own special form of therapy. Playing in bands has always been a really positive escape from some of the negative aspects that we experience in ‘everyday life’. I cherish all forms of death metal but always gravitated to the more melodic side of the genre. As a guitarist, the melodies I heard in bands like Enslaved and At the Gates were much more intriguing to me than some of the more traditional death metal. Although sometimes, nothing hits quite like the punishing riffs you hear in bands like Cannibal Corpse and Dying Fetus!

Your debut album is coming out in March. How was the writing and recording process? How do you write songs? What comes first, riffs or lyrics? As far as I understand your lyrics deal more with spiritual and mythological themes. Are you a spiritual person? What do the lyrics mean for you?

-I don’t believe many rock bands write lyrics before riffs, but I would be interested to hear about songwriters that do this. Our process always starts with a series of guitar riffs that are crafted into a song, generally in a verse/chorus/bridge type of format. Once there is some basic infrastructure of a song, 2nd guitar parts/harmonies are added, and drums follow closely behind. Bass, keyboards, and vocals tend to come last, although I would like to experiment with writing some material with keyboards as the main focus.

-The recording process was really fun for this record. We tracked everything at our practice space, which provided a comfortable atmosphere. Our engineer, Jacob St Amand, did a fantastic job and really put a lot of work into the album. We also tried some new things that we probably would not have tried in previous recordings. We changed the guitar/bass strings constantly, and kept the rhythm guitars at a fairly low gain setting. It was fun trying a new approach and Jacob had a great ear for getting us the right sounds.

-Lyrically, I tend to avoid the traditional death metal lyrics. It’s kind of all been done before, and I’m not going for any type of shock value. Personally, I prefer  to express more intellectual thoughts and ideas. I also grew up listening to a lot of hardcore bands, so the PMA (positive mental attitude) definately finds its way into the lyrics as well! “Offering” also has a lot of spiritual themes centered around some Eastern philosophy I was reading about while I was writing the songs. I am not religious, nor is anyone in the band, but I believe one can still be spiritual without religion. To me, something as simple as playing music with your friends could be considered a spiritual experience.

How did the cooperation with Reaping Scythe Records come about? Is there going to be physical release or only digital?

-In addition to a digital release, “Offering” will be released on vinyl, CD, and cassette via Reaping Scythe Records. RSR is a collective of heavy metal musicians in the greater Denver area. It was created during the height of the pandemic as a way for us to compile all of our music and ideas into a single place. From there, it evolved very organically, maintains a DIY identity, and is still in the early stages of its life. Everyone involved with the label helps with different things, which is how we keep it sustainable. I’m really excited to see how it will continue to grow in the next couple of years!

How is the underground music scene in the place where you live?

-Denver, CO USA is red hot right now for extreme music! I remember back in the day when we were trying to build a heavy scene and host heavy shows, the only big name from here was Cephalic Carnage. Now, we are home to many successful bands like Khemmis, Primitive Man, Wayfarer, and Blood Incantation to name a few. I’m also in another Denver band called ‘In the Company of Serpents’, and our most recent record ‘Lux’ got some great reviews!

Are there any notorious or scary urban legends in the area where you live?

-Yeah, the state of Colorado is quite large and contains several mountain ranges. I can’t think of any specific examples right now, but lots of weird stuff has happened in the mountains over the years, like people vanishing or having very bizarre experiences in the wilderness. The San Luis Valley in Colorado is also notorious for hosting various cults and different forms of dark magik.

Let´s talk about horror. Do you love horror movies and literature? If you do, what are your favorites? Mine are old Hammer horror movies and found footage, also golden era slashers from early eighties.

-What fan of death metal doesn’t like horror!?! Of course slasher movies from the 80’s are always super fun to watch, I love movies like Re-animator and Dead Alive. I also like to revisit some of the classics from time to time, like Nosferatu and basically any Hitchcock film. I have also been impressed with the Ari Aster movies over the last few years, I think his movies are really well written and legitimately scary.

What are plans for immediate future? Classic for the end, is there anything you would like to add? Thank you!

-Ideally we will play some out of town shows to support the new album, but we are mostly excited for people to hear the material because we are so proud of how it sounds! Hopefully we can make it to EU at some point, that would be a dream come true!

-Thank you so much for your interest in the band and I really appreciate all of your questions, it’s been a pleasure speaking with you!

Cheers,

Benjamin Pitts