We spoke to the vocalist Dr. Death, guitarist Goresoaked, bassist Eliotgore and drummer Zombiholocaust of California’s Death Metal/ Goregrind band Goreatorium!
MPM: First off, how are you doing today in these dark times during the pandemic?
Dr Death: We are working from home and spending time with our family. We practiced weekly before all this went down and are currently perfecting our craft individually. We are using this time to write new lyrics, new riffs, create stage props, and anything outside of playing live. Once this is over we will get back to practicing together and finish recording our next CD. Right now drums and guitars have been recorded at The Morgue.
MPM: Your debut full-length Homicidal Ideation has been out for little over a year now and is released independently by the band. Could you go over about the origins of the band and how the album all came along?
Dr Death: In 2014, is when the sickness began. The first practice was Jesse (Skeptor) on drums, Jorge (Kabak) on guitar, and me (Terrorism) on vocals. Jorge leaves and Rex (Thornflesh) comes in on guitar. We begin to practice regularly and Eliot (Lysis) comes in on bass. We start composing music and play everywhere locally. Jorge returns as a second guitarist and we record The Purity promo and the CD Homicidal Ideation. After recording the CD Jorge and Rex decide to leave and Richard (Dying Messiah) comes in on guitar. We play with this line up for a year and play out of state. Richard decides to leave to start his own project and Audy (Intracrematory, Gangrenous Consumption) comes in on guitar. Goreatorium is now Carlos Dr Death on gutturals, Jesse Zombiholocaust on drums, Audy Goresoaked on guitars and Eliot Eliotgore on bass.
Dr Death: The album has been out for a year and we just released it digitally on all platforms. The title of the album came from one of our songs. Homicidal Ideation is about the idea of murder and that everyone thinks about it but the majority don’t succumb to those thoughts. For the artwork we hit up Raulo Caceres, who we are big fans of from his work on the comic book Crossed. He sent us a few sketches and we worked with different ideas based on the songs title and lyrics. He made this grotesque piece of artwork that reflected all the songs on the album. Our plan is for him to draw our next one.
MPM: Your lyrics are about blood, guts, and gore which is a lot of the deathgrind and goregrind bands heavily focus on. Whom were some of your biggest inspirations in writing lyrics for the record?
Dr Death: Our inspiration come from a variety of places; early Cannibal Corpse with Chris Barnes, Jeremy from Broken Hope, Clive Barker, serial killers, horror movies, medical malpractice stories, Garth Ennis from Preacher, Crossed comics, Alarma mexican magazines and the Answer Me magazines. We try to tell a horror story for each song.
Eliotgore: As a matter of fact when the band was starting off, we played horror movies in the background while writing songs. Kind of like theme songs to go with the movies.
MPM: You guys are based out of California with tons of killer bands such as Exhumed, Impaled, Ghoul, Autopsy, Abysmal Dawn and The Kennedy Veil. What are your overall thoughts on the extreme metal bands coming out of the West Coast compared to the East?
Zombiholocaust: Each area spawns epic and talented bands that contribute a lot to the death metal scene we are a part of.
Dr Death: There are a lot of local bands that sound brutal and different to each other from both Coasts. We highly recommend the following bands from California; Machete Dildo, Bloodscribe, Stages of Decomposition, Sick, Euphoric Defilement, Reincarnate, Apoplexy, Innominate, Lithopeadia, and Inculpation.
Eliotgore: There are some seriously sick bands here in California, as well as big bands from the East coast, but we are down with any brutal music from any place in the world.
MPM: Where did the word Goreatorium derive from?
Dr Death: Goreatorium means auditorium of gore. We wanted a name that would encompass all extreme genres into one. I came up with the name and made sure no other bands had that name yet. That’s one of the hardest things when naming a band is to make sure on one else has it. We did notice later on that Eli Roth had an exhibit back in the day named Goretorium. Our name has an “A”, so we were good. Hahaha.
MPM: Throughout listening to Homicidal Ideation I hear a lot of different genres ranging anywhere from grindcore, brutal death metal and slam. Was there a time upon writing these songs that gave you a proud result how it turned out or do you feel the future material of next Goreatorium music is gonna continuously be stronger and powerful than the debut?
Goresoaked: We try to write what we feel is an essence to the type of music we like. As a band, we always learn new things from each other and by practicing together.
Eliotgore: We are fans of all types of metal and we feel that we have to include all the music we are passionate about in our music. The mixture of styles was something that always attracted me. That openness to play whatever the fuck we want.
Dr Death: We have different influences that we bring to the table, so we try to encompass all those styles in our music. We want to play songs that mix different genres where each song has its own identity. We don’t want to play just one genre, as that can handicap you creatively. We were very pleased with how Homicidal Ideation came out because it took a lot of sacrifice to get there independently. We oversaw every facet of the concept and it came out exactly how we envisioned it.
Zombiholocaust: Our first album was only the first chapter in our book of death and gore. What we’re currently working on is going to be on a whole different level. The gorehorde are in for a real treat!
MPM: When not writing such killer death metal music, do you prefer writing music in studio or going out to tour and promote music for the fans?
Goresoaked: We try to perform shows as much as we can, even when we are in the writing process. It helps us keep our head in the game of our favorite activity.
Eliotgore: I think performing fuels us to want to write more music.
Zombiholocaust: Writing music and jamming in the rehearsal studio or garage is always the best. Together we work on the layout of each song and what direction we want to go. Then, Dr. Death adds his brutal lyrics and we make the song come to life.
Dr Death: We try to record anything that happens spontaneously at rehearsal too because you never know what sickness comes out of those sessions. We try out the new songs to a live audience to see their reactions before we ever enter the recording studio.
MPM: Are there any upcoming releases highly anticipated for in the extreme metal scene? If so, what are some releases looking forward to?
Dr Death: Fluids new EP titled Ignorance Exalted, Sick Morgue “Festering in a Cesspool of Human Flesh” where I sang on their title track, and Carcass’ new album.
MPM: If extreme music didn’t exist, where would you be in life?
Dr Death: I am a huge wrestling fan so I would probably be a deathmatch wrestler. That way I could combine gore and wrestling.
Goresoaked: I would probably be in gangs or heavily sunk in drugs (Or both). Hahaha
Eliotgore: I would probably be a bigger nerd and be living in the mountains as a hermit. Hey, it still might happen, we gotta see what the future brings.
MPM: If there was any label Goreatorium would like to be signed in the distant future, what record companies do you see yourself being on the roster?
Zombiholocaust: Any brutal label would be great, but something about putting in the hard work and releasing it independently as a band is a great feeling.
Dr Death: There are so many labels around the world that do so much for the extreme underground music scene. We are thankful that we were able to trade our albums with them. When we say Homicidal Ideation is available world wide it is because of all labels and distros around the world.
MPM: Picture Goreatorium got to open it’s own small festival or dream lineup tour. What bands do you want to bring along on the road with you?
Goresoaked: Dream line up tour? Its gotta be Mortician, Exhumed, Dead Infection, Gutalax, TxPxFx, and Last Days of Humanity.
Dr Death: For me it’s Haemorrhage, Rompeprop, Fluids, Gorgasm, Lividity and Necrotic Gorebeast. We played Los Angeles Extermination Fest and now we want to play any of the Extreme Metal Fests anywhere in the states and the world.
Zombiholocaust: Cannibal Corpse, Defeated Sanity, Nile and Broken Hope would be an epic line up to tour with.
Eliotgore: I’m adding Putrid Pile & Cryptopsy to those already mentioned.
MPM: What do you think of the term guilty pleasure in music and what’s your stance on that?
Goresoaked: My gulity pleasure is funk music. Growing up in Los Angeles, I leaned towards funk when I was not listening to heavy stuff and loved grooving on great tunes. My writing is influenced from other genres more than heavy music itself.
Eliotgore: I listen to other metal like black metal and some thrash but beside metal I do like some punk and ska. I do always reach for classic rock when I’m at work, but I like jazz and blues whenever I need to calm down, so I guess that’s my guilty pleasure.
Zombiholocaust: My guilty pleasure would have to be jazz, classical, and latin music. Its always great to listen to other music for inspiration and ideas.
Dr Death: It’s good to listen to other genres so a balance can be made with the extreme side of music. I listen to goregrind, death, slam, BDM, pornogore, black metal, and then listen to reggae, ska, and Spanish rock to balance it out. I think everyone has a guilty pleasure and that’s cool as long as it keeps you grounded.
MPM: In your opinion, where do you see the extreme metal community go in the next decade or two?
Zombiholocaust: We foresee, the Underground scene will grow more and we will see more talented bands come up to spread the gore.
Dr Death: I see more and more internet bands with all star lineups. The longer this quarantine goes the more you will see of this. I can’t wait for things to get back to normal so we can get back to being on stage. Our live set is very important to us because we incorporate costumes and props to give a sense of seeing a horror movie as you see us play.
Eliotgore: I see younger kids getting into metal and making music at home. It is allowing for new types of music to be created. I believe we will see more one man bands.
MPM: Lastly, any final words or messages for your fans and others reading this interview?
Goresoaked: All the people out there that support us one way or another, I thank you forever. It is always an honor for someone to share appreciation for something you do because not only does creating music make us happy but it can make someone else happy.
Eliotgore: My pleasure is seeing people enjoy the music that we have created. Looking out into the crowd and seeing people pitting and enjoying the music makes me want to play more. Thank you to everyone that supports us and keep the music alive.
Zombiholocaust: Thank you #Gorehorde for supporting our creation and having our CD in your arsenal of music. Our friends, families, and bands we’ve played with. Soultone Cymbals and Coffin Cases for endorsing us. Here we are, years later, still loving every bit of it! A family of gore!
Social media links:
goreatorium.bandcamp.com
http://www.instagram.com/goreatorium_band
http://www.facebook.com/Goreatorium
http://www.twitter.com/goreatoriumband
Interview by Jake Butler
