10th November 2022

Exclusive Interview: Gorotica talk writing and recording “Morbid Menagerie”!

A cannibalistic troupe of questionable French origins, Gorotica hail from the backwoods of Sydney and specialise in Deathgrind without being afraid to stray from the left hand path should a riff take them. They unveiled a thirty nine minute, twenty two track debut album titled “Morbid Menagerie” last month which not only caught our attention but captured our imagination with moments of horror, exploitation, Progressive Technical Death, American Groove and Swedish Death all wrapped up in one parcel to be collected from the butchers…

How did your previous experiences writing and recording help to smooth the path of the new record? “It’s something we’ve done for a long time now, so it all comes pretty naturally at this point, especially when you get on a roll with a set of songs and you get in a writing zone. These days it’s very easy to produce a great sound at the home studio, so again quite a simple process there”

How does the writing process of a new track start? Melody, riff or rhythm first? How does it evolve from there before you consider it the finished article?

“Always I start with a riff in my mind, and I will input that down into MIDI so it is easy for Gaspard to learn and he can then tinker with it as well to better suit his style of play, and from then on just adding more riffs that progress naturally. Finishing it just comes when hearing it brings a certain satisfaction and you can feel it, like the last sip of a drink“

What was it like working with guest vocalists Miller from Black Rheno and Tobias from Glass Ocean on a couple of tracks? “So we met Miller through the scene in Sydney and through his studio and rehearsal space he runs, and we’ve been friends and worked with him in different capacities for a while now and of course we’re big fans of his stuff too, and Tobias is an old dear friend of mine who’s a wonderful vocalist with incredible range, it was a treat to have these guys on the recording! Also a shout out to another guest we have, our friend Rasmus singing main vocals and lyrics on Purging The Apocalypse, he killed on that track and brought something a little more raw and aggressive.”

You went totally DIY or DIE and mixed and mastered the record yourself. Would you like to work with a producer in the future or do you see Gorotica as a passion project which is very much your (headless) baby? “This is something we have never really discussed, and seeing as Gaspard is an excellent producer it makes sense for us to stay in house and keep our costs down, but for the next recording who can say? We will let the music, money and settings dictate such things!”

For us gear nerds out there, can you tell us what you’re using gear wise (pedals, strings, drums etc) to get your sound? “Gaspard was the mastermind with gear and production but from memory I think we are using Schecter and Spector guitars and basses, there is a variety of pedals also, Boss, Ibanez and Digitech I believe, and drums were an electronic kit and also some programming for certain sections as a musical/sound design choice”

What difference would it make to you as a band if you could land an endorsement from a gear manufacturer? “I think we would be very happy with such a deal, but in reality this is just a small project which may not garner such attention to receive that offer, one can hope though!”

“Morbid Menagerie” by Gorotica is out now and is available over at bandcamp