Intervista Gruesome (Gus Rios)

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Hi guys, welcome to TrueMetal.it!

“Twisted Prayers” is your second album, coming out three years after its predecessor; how would you say it differs from “Savage Land”? Well, with SL we were just trying to write Death songs in general…that album has a lot of elements from all 3 of Death’s first albums. We had NO idea that things would get to this level and so now we are writing more album specific homages if you will. Dimensions of Horror was VERY Scream Bloody Gore like, and now Twisted Prayers is much more derived from Spiritual Healing. Also much like SH, we spent more time on the production and mix this time around.

The band members are all coming from other extreme metal bands, why did you feel the need for a further Death Metal output with Gruesome?

Quite simply…because we LOVE Death and it’s just too much fun to stop! It feels as close as it’s going to get to playing in Death…which is my childhood dream!

Gruesome are explicitly a tribute to Death; your music was received really well by the fans, but were you ever afraid at the beginning that you would be dismissed as a Death rip-off?

Of course…we had many fears. Before anyone heard anything I sent a couple of songs to James Murphy, whom I’ve known for years. I asked him to honestly tell me if it was any good! Once he gave it the thumbs up, we had a bit more confidence moving forward. Chuck at this point has reached death metal sainthood, and we were and continue to be very aware of this legacy. Everything we do comes from a genuine respect and admiration for his music, so in that regard I feel that we have nothing to apologize for…we’re being true to ourselves as fans first and foremost.

How hard is it to write music that sounds like Death without actually ripping them off?

Well that is up for discussion depending on who you ask! But for us it’s mostly about things “feeling” right if that makes sense. When I write a riff, if it makes me smile and it’s achieving the effect that I’m looking for, I then send it to Matt and get a second opinion. We all do this…get each other’s opinions. “Is this Death enough…too Death like??” etc etc. We try to have a good amount of quality control with what we’re doing. Believe it or not, because of its uniqueness, writing songs in a particular band’s style without ripping them off isn’t easy. Fortunately we all have been listening to Death since the 80s and have been playing death metal since the 90s…it’s in our blood!

Your albums so far followed Death’s sound evolution, are you planning to keep on progressing to follow it until “The Sound of Perseverance” going more and more technical with time?

Yes, I believe that is our trajectory at this point. It’s what the fans are expecting and we are happy to deliver and look forward to the challenge! That said, I wouldn’t count out a couple of return to early Death style albums in the future as well. Matt, Robin and myself all love the early stuff while Daniel is more into Human and forward…so we will hopefully continue to write songs that make us enjoy what we’re doing.

Just like Death you also have had your artworks done by Ed Repka, did you give him any direction on what to draw?

Yeah, we gave him the album title, what the song was about and a general image idea. But we also wanted him to be himself, with the added guide of “think back to 87-89 for inspiration”. To me the MAIN thing that Gruesome provides is pure nostalgia. For those of us who were around and bought those albums when they were released, there were so many aspects that stuck out that triggered emotional responses. The album covers were a major part of what a Death album was, so we absolutely HAD to have Repka on board. Honestly without him we may not have moved forward! The logo, sound production, etc…it all had to fit to complete the puzzle.

You’ve been very prolific and, other than the two studio albums, you’ve also released two Eps; have you already started working on new music or are you taking a little time off from writing?

There are already 3 new songs written and recorded in demo form. When it’s genuine fun it comes very naturally. Plus we do have the road map already laid out right? It becomes an interesting challenge each time and again, so much fun! I can’t wait to record another album next year!

It seems like there is a rise of interest in Death Metal, especially in Old-School Death Metal, in your opinion why is that?

It’s cool obviously. But just like the thrash revival a few years ago, only the best will remain once it runs its course. I’ve been listening to death metal since 1987, for me its not a trend…its part of my life. I’ll be here after the trend dies and moves onto old school black metal or whatever is next.

Talking about Metal in general, what do you think are the most interesting bands or scene around today?

I am openly stuck in another time and therefore I dig a lot of the bands coming out of Sweden doing the early Entombed/Dismember thing. Bands like LIK, Entrails, Gravestone etc. I also like all the recent Unleashed albums…they are still putting out quality music. The more modern sounding bands to me have too much technology in their production. I’m hearing a computer more than a band and that turns me off. Plus metal has seemingly turned into musical exercises on drums, bass, and guitar more than actual SONGS. Nothing against progress or whatever, but its just not for me. I am just happy that metal hasn’t and doesn’t seem like it ever will die!!

Thanks for your time, see you on tour!

Thank you for the support!!

Davide Sciaky