Nekrogoblikon is an American

melodic death metal Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal (including New Wave of British Heavy Metal). The genre features the heavines ...

band based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. The group was formed in 2006, by Tim Lyakhovetskiy and Nicky Calonne. The band has released five full-length albums, ''Goblin Island'', ''Stench'', ''

Heavy Meta ''Heavy Meta'' is the third studio album by Nekrogoblikon, released on June 2, 2015. The album spawned two music videos, for the songs "We need a Gimmick", and Nekrogoblikon. Track listing Personnel Nekrogoblikon * Nicky "Scorpion" Calon ...

'', ''Welcome to Bonkers'', and ''The Fundamental Slimes and Humours'', and one EP, ''

Power Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power Power may a ...

''. The band's music centers on

goblin A goblin is a small, grotesque, monstrous creature that appears in the folklore of multiple European cultures. First attested in stories from the Middle Ages, they are ascribed conflicting abilities, temperaments, and appearances depending on t ...

History

Formation and ''Goblin Island'' (2006–2010)

Nekrogoblikon was formed in 2006 by Nicky Calonne and Tim Lyakhovetskiy in

Palo Alto Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was estab ...

, California. The two of them recorded Nekrogoblikon's first album, ''Goblin Island'', in Lyakhovetskiy's basement. On his return to school at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...

, Lyakhovetskiy found Ashleigh Carracino, Alex Duddy, Spencer Bartz, Alex Alereza, and Austin Nickel to form the rest of the band. The group played eleven shows before Bartz moved to Japan, and was replaced by Eddie Trager.

''Stench'' (2011–2012)

On July 19, 2011 the band released ''Stench''. ''Stench'' was reviewed positively by "Pop and Hiss", the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' music blog, which praised its technical proficiency and songwriting, and described its inclusion of electronic elements as working "surprisingly well."

Metal Sucks MetalSucks is a heavy metal music-themed news website. The site features reviews, interviews, information on latest metal releases and blog-like posts from the writers, most notably Vince Neilstein and Axl Rosenberg. History The site was fou ...

also praised the album with a 4.5/5 rating, describing it as more professional than ''Goblin Island'', and complimenting its technicality. ''

Blistering A blister is a small pocket of fluid in the upper layer of the skin caused by heat, electricity, chemicals, light, radiation, or friction Blister(s) or Blistering may also refer to: * Anti-torpedo bulge, also known as an anti-torpedo blister * '' ...

'' gave the album a 9/10 rating, calling it "fun and entertaining." In September 2012 the band released a music video for "No One Survives," directed by Brandon Dermer. The video depicts a goblin (played by Dave Rispoli) who tries, and fails, to win the affections of a coworker (played by

Kayden Kross Kayden Kross (born 1985) is an American pornographic actress and director. She is a member of the AVN and XRCO Halls of Fame. Early life Kross grew up in the foothills between Sacramento and Placerville. She has described herself as "the book ...

). The video became a viral hit and was viewed more than 1.5 million times in the first 3 months.

''Power'' (2013)

In June 2013, Nekrogoblikon went on a European tour to perform at several venues and festivals, including

Download Festival Download Festival is a British-created rock festival created by Terrance Gough, held annually at the Donington Park motorsport circuit in Leicestershire, England (since 2003); in Paris, France (since 2016); at Parramatta Park, Sydney (since 201 ...

in England and

Rock am Ring and Rock im Park The (German for "Rock at the Ring") and ("Rock in the Park") festivals are two simultaneous rock music festivals held annually. While ''Rock am Ring'' takes place at the Nürburgring race track, ''Rock im Park'' takes place at the Zeppelinfeld ...

in Germany. In August 2013, Nekrogoblikon released an EP titled ''Power'', produced by Nekrogoblikon and mixed by

Matt Hyde Matt Hyde (born June 19, 1964) is an American producer, engineer, mixer and musician. From 1982 to 1985 he attended Berklee College of Music in Boston. While still at Berklee in 1984, he obtained an internship at Pyramid Recording Studio in Bost ...

. The album received a 2/5 review from Metal Sucks, which criticized the songwriting and described the band as a "lame joke."

Sputnikmusic Sputnikmusic is an American music community website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites. The format of the website is unusual in that it includes both professional and amateur c ...

gave the album a 3.5/5 review, describing the album as "ridiculous," and praising the instrumentation and technicality but criticizing the vocals and inconsistency. In 2014, Nekrogoblikon performed on the

Kerrang! Tour ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one-o ...

, along with

Limp Bizkit Limp Bizkit is an American rap rock band from Jacksonville, Florida. Its lineup consists of lead vocalist Fred Durst, drummer John Otto, guitarist Wes Borland, turntablist DJ Lethal and bassist Sam Rivers. The band's music is marked by D ...

Crossfaith Crossfaith (Japanese: クロスフェイス) is a Japanese metalcore band from Osaka that was formed in 2006. Since its formation, the band has retained the same line-up with no member changes, which currently consists of vocalist Kenta Koie, gui ...

, and HECK (then Baby Godzilla).

''Heavy Meta'' (2014–2015)

In January 2014, Nekrogoblikon announced through their

instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

account that they were working on a new release. On March 9, 2015 the band released the first track, "Full Body Xplosion", on their YouTube account. They also announced on Facebook that the album ''

'' would be released via Mystery Box, the band's own label. On June 2, 2015 the album was released. ''Heavy Meta'' is a concept album, consisting of 10 songs that when listened to in succession, tells the story of an immortal goblin race seeking a way to finally die. The album received fairly consistent reviews with the band's previous offerings scoring a 3.5/5 on Angry Metal Guy. Metal Injection offered substantive praise for the album saying "''Heavy Meta'' is the best album Nekrogoblikon has released so far in their career".

''Welcome to Bonkers'' (2018)

Nekrogoblikon released their fifth album ''Welcome to Bonkers'', on April 13, 2018. Instagram photos in April 2019 show members working on new music, presumably for the sixth Nekrogoblikon album at Audiohammer Studios in Florida.

"Chop Suey!" (2020)

Nekrogoblikon released their cover of

System of a Down System of a Down (also known as SoaD or simply System) is an Armenian-American heavy metal band formed in Glendale, California, in 1994. Since 1997, the band has consisted of Serj Tankian (lead vocals, keyboards); Daron Malakian (guitar, voc ...

's "

Chop Suey! "Chop Suey!" is the first single from Armenian-American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band System of a Down's second album ''Toxicity (album), Toxicity''. The single was released in August 2001 and earned the band its first Grammy Award, Grammy ...

" on July 3, 2020.

''The Fundamental Slimes and Humours'' (2022)

On July 7, 2021 Nicky and Alex appeared on ''The Vanflip Podcast'', and revealed the title of their sixth album as ''The Fundamental Slimes and Humours''. On November 12, Nekrogoblikon released the first single and music video from their new album, entitled ''Right Now'', named after the talk show hosted by their "hype-goblin," John Goblikon. On January 5 2022, Nekrogoblikon released a second single and music video titled "This Is It", from the upcoming album ''The Fundamental Slimes and Humours'', once again directed by creative visionary Brandon Dermer. On April 1, 2022, Nekrogoblikon released their sixth studio album ''The Fundamental Slimes and Humours''.

Band members

Current

* Nicky "Scorpion" Calonne —

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

sequencing In genetics and biochemistry, sequencing means to determine the primary structure (sometimes incorrectly called the primary sequence) of an unbranched biopolymer. Sequencing results in a symbolic linear depiction known as a sequence which succ ...

, programming (2006–present) * Alex "Goldberg" Alereza —

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

(2007–present) * Aaron "Raptor" Minich — keyboards, backing vocals (2011–present) * Aaron "Zoot" VanZutphen — bass, backing vocals (2015–present) * Eric W. Brown —

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

(2016–present) * Joe "Diamond" Nelson —

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

(2013–2015, 2018–present)

Former

* Eddie Trager — drums,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

xylophone The xylophone (; ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets. Like the glockenspiel (which uses metal bars), the xylophone essentially consists of a set of tuned wooden keys arranged in the ...

glockenspiel The glockenspiel ( or , : bells and : set) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the vibraphone. The glo ...

marimba The marimba () is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the timbre ...

(2011–2016) * Brandon "Fingers" Frenzel — bass (2011–2015) * Tim "Timbus" Lyakhovetskiy — rhythm guitar, backing vocals, drum sequencing (2006–2013) * Anthony DeLorenzi — keyboards (2010–2011) * Alex Duddy — drums, backing vocals (2007–2011) * Austin Nickel — bass (2007–2011) * Ashleigh Carracino — keyboards (2007–2010) * Spencer Bartz — drums (2007) * Jason Kaye — lead guitar (2007) * Bryan Kaye — drums (2007)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

Music videos

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2006 establishments in California American symphonic metal musical groups Death metal musical groups from California Musical groups established in 2006