Interview with Hungarian death metal band GUTTED.
- answered Sándor Hajnali.
translated by Markéta, thank you!
Ave GUTTED! “Martyr Creation” is only your second album I have listened to. Do you want to introduce your band a little bit first? Death metal from Hungary is not well known in the Czech Republic.
Gutted was founded in 1996 as Genocide. We changed our name in 1998 . “Martyr Creation” is our 4th full album which was released by Xtreem Music on 20.12.2016. We played a lot in your country because our 2nd album “Human Race Deserves To Die” was released by NTEY records and Vladimir organized shows and festivals for us. We played on Obscene Extreme Fest and on Brutal Assault 2 times so far.
“Martyr Creation” is out for a while now. How is the feedback? What about fans and critics? And what about your songs live? Do they work?
Feedback is awesome so far but it is very fresh meat in the scene. :) New songs work great on the gigs. We have been playing them on the gigs for more than 2 years now.
This album was published by Spanish Xtreem Music. How did you get to work with this label and are you satisfied with their work? A label is very important thing these days. We can hear about your everywhere. How was the cooperation? Did Dave Rotten gave you any specific points of how you should sound? This might be a problem with a band and a label.
Xtreem Music is a very strong and dedicated label. I have always wanted to work with Dave. I really love his work since Repulse Records days. Lots of great releases and some really cool re-releases as well. There were no specific points from his side. I sent him demo songs and he really liked them.
I really like the sound of your album. It is raw and readable at the same time. It is uncompromising but you still can recognize all those melodies and ideas. Where did you recorded this album? Who did the mixing and mastering?
‘Martyr Creation” was recorded, mixed and mastered in our guitarist’s home studio and he was the sound engineer.
Who did the album´s cover for “Martyr Creation”? I have to admit that the pentagram in the ground feels very monumental to me. How did you choose the cover?
Original idea of the cover came from me and one of my friends made it real. He was one of the founding members of Gutted. He created our first 2 album covers as well and I wanted to work with him again. He is a very talented artist. He runs Fotonoid company, you can reach him on this website: http://www.fotonoid.hu/
Please tell us what are they lyrics about on the album “Martyr Creation”, who is the author and how were they made?
I wrote all lyrics for the album. They are about isolation, emptiness and all the dark sides of human mind. I wrote the lyrics after we had a finished song and the mood of the song gave me inspiration.
To be honest, when I think about brutal death metal band from Hungary, there is only your band which comes to my mind. Do you have any other good bands? I do not only mean death metal but also trash or black.
We have some great bands. I just name a few: Age Of Agony (old school death metal), Kill With Hate (brutal death metal), Angerseed (brutal death metal), Bornholm (black metal), Malediction (old school death metal), Mörbid Carnage (trash metal), Sear Bliss (black metal).
How is it to play death metal in Hungary? Do people go to concerts? Do they support you, buy CDs? When you organize an event how many people usually go?
Playing death metal in Hungary is just totally the same as playing it in any other countries: not easy and needs hard, persistent job. We have some good clubs where fans like to go but Gutted not playing many gigs in Hungary because it has a minimal underground scene.
GUTTED have been playing since 2000. That is a long time for a band. How did you even manage to keep the band together for such a long time? Correct me if I am wrong, but your original name was GENOCIDE, right?
Yes, you are right; we were Genocide for 2 years at the beginning. Metal Archives is wrong. We have been using the name Gutted since 1998. It is very hard to keep a band together. We had lots of line-up changes, I’m the only original member.
Let´s look to your beginnings…What was the first impulse for making a band? And why brutal death metal? It is not very “famous” music style.
In 1996 underground death metal was almost dead. Labels did not care about you; bands could not make gigs because clubs did not care about this style. Very hard times. However, I wanted to play some kind of brutal music since I was a child. I managed to get some guys to form a band and they wanted the same as me. We wanted to be the most brutal band on earth. Who knows, maybe we managed the reach it. :)
You are a band which is getting better with every new album. You are developing all the time. Do you have any target you want to hit? For someone it is a famous label or playing with SUFFOCATION.
All our 4 albums are different because of the line-up changes. Death metal was our style at the beginning and death metal is still our style but we would like to write real songs not only brutal music. This was our goal with our new album as well, create something brutal that has real, memorable songs. We have already played with Suffocation and we are satisfied with Xtreem Music.
What about GUTTED and concerts? Have you had any Europe tour? Do you want to do a tour? I would like to see you playing in Prague!
We have done 2 European tours so far but we are not planning tours in the future. Festivals and some club gigs are booked but no tours. We do not like touring. We have played in Prague 2 times so far, hopefully we will get back soon!
Are there any albums which caught your attention recently?
Sulphur Aeon, Dead Congregation, latest Dark Funeral and I really stoked to listen to new Beheaded.
Do you know and listen some Czech bands?
Of course, I know some and I like some. :) Krabathor, Fleshless, Heaving Earth, Brutally Deceased, Pandemia, Godless Truth just to name a few. The best extreme album from your country is Lykathea Aflame’s Elvenefris album, for me this album is the Best from Czech Republic.
What are GUTTED´s plans for the next few months?
We have some gigs confirmed so far. The biggest is the next Las Vegas Death Fest in US. It will be our first appearance in US. We can’t wait that gig and really honoured to be in the line-up! We will try to make some good show this year, no any other plans we have right now.
Thank you for the interview and I wish you a lot of sold CDs, hundreds of crazy fans and a tons of great ideas.
Thanks for the opportunity! I hope that we will meet soon in your country! Cheers and Beers to Everyone! Great ideas.
