Interview with death metal band from United States - GAROTED.
Answered guitar player Drew and drummer Nolan, thank you!
Translated Duzl, thank you!
Questions prepared Jakub Asphyx.
GAROTED - Bewitchment Of The Dark Ages (2023):
Ave GAROTED! Greetings from the Czech catacombs. I just got to work and since I walk by the cemetery, I had the feeling that all the dead had come out of their graves. I was listening to your new album "Bewitchment of the Dark Ages". I'm really enjoying the new album a lot. Can you tell us how it was made? It's been six long years since you released a new album. Why so long?
Nolan Weber: Glad you’re liking it! Yeah yeah we took our sweet time with this one but we had ALSO moved from Nebraska to Kansas City during the writing process and also released albums with our bands Verräter, Cataphract, and Varlok during all that time. We also did this while COVID was a bitch to deal around. The next album won’t take as long, I swear!
The first thing that literally hit me in the face was the cover art. It's signed by Chris Kiesling (Misantrophic-art). The artwork is reminiscent of old images from church books. Skeletons staggering under the stairs and the entrance to heaven at the top. Or hell? Can you tell us how the motif on the cover relates to the music, lyrics and based on what you chose it? For myself, I have to write one thing - the cover is excellent!
Drew Frerking: Like with any of our previous cover artworks, we typically hand over the lyrics and pre-mixes to use as inspiration. Chris did a phenomenal job on this piece for we had envisioned. It's essentially a representative of what the album title is about - medieval occult black magic in the dark ages.
Before we get to the music itself...I wonder what the lyrics on the album are about. Where did you get the inspiration for them? Are they themes from a book? Or a movie? What actually influences and inspires you when writing lyrics? And who is the author?
Drew Frerking: This album isn't as much of a concept album but the lyrics do have overarching themes throughout. Lyric writing on this album was split about 50/50 with our original vocalist Rayzor and myself. We're inspired by movies, games, books, you name it. We've always been very subtle and meticulous with our references so that's up to the listener to figure out where the inspiration comes from.
Nolan Weber: Not me, lol. I think the lyrics do great being used to describe punishing hangovers (“Egregiously spellbound by diabolical enthrallment”)!
We have a phrase in the Czech Republic. "If something's great, it'll kick you out of your pants". It happened to me when I first heard "Bewitchment of the Dark Ages" at home on my hi-fi tower. You have an absolutely killer sound. Raw, brutal, dark, but at the same time it retains an animalistic quality, if you know what I mean. Reminds me of the good old 90s. The album was recorded, mixed and mastered by Axel Harvey, who plays bass for MARASMUS among others. Why him? What studio did you record in and how did the whole process work?
Nolan Weber: We have been playing with his more active band GOURMAND for years! His studio is Axel Harvey Productions. I recorded with him for previous projects and I really wanted to do a death metal recording project with him because he’s killer to work with and we get brutally stoned on dabs and weed all throughout the process, making it fun as shit. Also, Drew had recorded every fucking single previous releases + all of our black metal bands and it was time Drew got to sit out and just play for once. The project went well, I had my drums all completed in a weekend and I believe Drew and Jonathan only took a couple days also.
You are also connected with MARASMUS thanks to the new singer Devon Ferrer. How did you get together and how long did it take to find him? I have to write that he did a great job.
Nolan Weber: He came to us like the stars aligning. When our singer Rayzor wanted out, Devo stepped in! I’ve known him since a teenager, he’s been around KC death metal for a long fucking time.
I can direct the same question to bassist Johathan Tennant. He's also a new member. When and how did you meet and get together? In terms of personnel changes, why did D. Stansberry leave? Aaron Kieth and Zach Mckeighan?
Drew Frerking: Jonathan goes way back to the 'Visions of Death and Destruction' album era. He had been a long fan of the band and we had a mutual interest in listening to extreme death metal. We met him through our circle of friends but it wasn't until a few years later that we had become musically involved with him. In fact he didn't play in Garoted at first, he was originally a live bassist for Nolan and I's black metal act Verräter. His first gig with Garoted was in April of 2016 when we opened for Absu. The other members have all left due to personal reasons or lack of continuing on. It’s fine though, no hard feelings and we all continue to keep in touch.
Both original members of GAROTED - Nolan Weber and Drew Frerking are active in many other bands. I was surprised that they are mostly bands that play black metal. Does that mean you are "originally black metallers"? You can hear references to that style on the GAROTED records. Is there any difference when you write new music for other bands? Doesn't it confuse you? How do you actually create new songs (for GAROTED)? Will you please let us have a glimpse into your "kitchen"?
Nolan Weber: Drew is more into black metal than me, haha. I have been in black metal bands since I was a teenager and it’s just always been a part of my life, it seems. Through note taking and recording demos, it gets less confusing. Garoted is our frenzy shit, black metal is just an entirely different outlet. Sure, some of it may seep into the Garoted sound but we would never write an all out black metal song cuz we need more anger than that for this band!
I'm always interested in the musicians' perspective on the scene, on the gigs, on the fans. How is death metal doing in America at the moment? You're from Kansas City (but originally from Nebraska, if I'm not mistaken). How is the scene there, do people attend shows? Do they buy merch, CDs?
Drew Frerking: We are originally a Nebraskan band yes. Our home grounds are less than 3 hours away from Kansas City and being from the Midwest, we're all sorta spread out and from small towns. Being from a smaller area like so makes one want to reach out in search of likeminded individuals. That's more or less how we ended up in Kansas City. The scene here is kind of non-existent anymore. There's still bands around and shows every so often but we don't really have a unified venue to meet and play as it was in the past. I'm sure that'll change in the future though, these types of things tend to come and go in cycles. People who do come out to shows though are very supportive for both local and touring bands because of this.
How do you approach concerts? Do you prefer to play clubs or festivals? How about some touring? I know it's a very expensive thing nowadays, but you're still young and I still think that's how your music will reach the most listeners even in the internet age. Are you planning any tours in support of the new album?
Nolan Weber: We like playing anywhere that can handle triggered kicks and break neck speeds. No tours in the works yet but we will, we just need to get a couple more ducks in a row.
The last question I would like to direct to your perception of music as a whole. Why did you start playing? What does death metal mean to you? Is it a lifestyle, an attitude towards society or "just" a hobby that you can't be without like me?
Nolan Weber: I just wanted to play fast, hard to play, furious music and Drew did too! To me, It’s an attitude towards extreme music. Death metal is the hardest genre in the world to play and I think we do it justice. A lot of bands simply don’t cut the cheese for me so I play death metal that I would like to hear.
Thank you so much for the interview! I wish you not only that the new album will do well, that as many fans as possible will listen to it and that you will have sold out shows. I hope to see you live sometime. Have a good personal life as well. GAROTED forever!
Drew Frerking: Infernal hails and thanks for the interview! Cheers!
Nolan Weber: GRRRRRRROTED!
GAROTED - Bewitchment Of The Dark Ages (2023):
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