Gorerotted
Encyclopedia
Gorerotted was a British
death metal
band formed in 1997 which split up in January 2008 and reformed with new members as The Rotted
. Gorerotted's lyrics and song titles were largely inspired by horror films, and dealt with subjects such as death, mutilation
, necrophilia
, and later alcohol
and drug abuse
. The band's song titles often incorporated humorous rhymes or puns such as "Cut, Gut, Beaten, Eaten", "Masticated by the Spasticated", and "Only Tools and Corpses", a pun
on the popular British sitcom, Only Fools and Horses
, the latter beginning with a suspiciously similar introductory drumbeat to the sitcom's theme music.
Musically, Gorerotted employed a distinctive dual vocal style. Originally with Ben delivering a deep, death growl
-style, and Mr. Gore providing contrast to this with a high-pitched yelling and screaming. When Wilson joined as the band's bass player on the album Only Tools and Corpses he also added to the vocals by delivering high-pitched growls and additional screams, thus the band had 3 different voices going at times. After Mr. Gore's departure in 2004, Wilson took over his vocal parts in the older songs. The guitar riffs are often fast and technical, with the bass usually doubling these parts. Both the guitars and the bass are tuned down one whole-step (guitars are tuned to D), to achieve a heavier sound. The drumming is extremely fast, often making use of blast beat
s and double bass.
Ben McCrow and Tim Carley of Gorerotted are currently working under the name The Rotted and are signed to Metal Blade Records
and have previously released albums on Relapse Records
, IBD Records and Deepsend Records.
Jason "Mr. Gore" Merle & Graham "Nutty Strangeways" Hodis, the 2 original vocalists of Gorerotted, are currently working under the name Gorebound & released an e.p entitled "It's Choppin' Time" in the summer of 2010.
Gorerotted's first demo, recorded at Phillia Studios, UK. It was limited to 1500 copies and sold at early gigs. The demo featured an embryonic line-up, with only founding member Tim "Fluffy" Carley remaining throughout the band's career. "Limb by Limb" and "Carrion Smelling" later appeared as re-recorded version on the Split Your Guts Vol. 1 split CD. Along with "Stab Me Till I Cum" being re-recorded for the debut full length album Mutilated in Minutes and "Her Gash I Did Slash" being re-recorded and put on the second release, Only Tools and Corpses. Kerrang gave the demo 1 out of 5 and stated "This band use murder, violence and the suffering of others to sell their rather shoddy product," a description the band took and used as a backprint for their very first T-Shirt.
The band's first official release, now featuring vocalist Ben "Babysliced/Goreskin" McCrow who remained the band's frontman throughout their career. Recorded with Dave Chang at Phillia Studios, UK, the album went on to enter the 'Top 10 Gore Albums Of All Time' poll in Terrorizer magazine and attracted the attentions of Cudgel Agency who booked the band for their annual open air 'Fuck The Commerce' festival. It's here that future label Metal Blade Records were exposed to the band. Eventually licensed to Replase Records for all territories outside Europe, featuring fresh artwork by Jake of cult underground horror comic Tales From Uranus (USA), based on the original version by Rob Filth of Filth Comics/TBAC (UK)
The first of many split CD releases by US label Deepsend Records. Also featured Gronibard (France) and Gruesome Stuff Relish (Spain) Tracks were recorded during the Only Tools & Corpses sessions.
After signing to Metal Blade, the band again utilized the producing skills of Dave Chang at Phillia Studios for their second release. The title was of course a pun on the name of the band's favourite comedy series of all time, 'Only Fools And Horses.' Joining the band for this release were long-serving members Phil Wilson on bass and Matt "Robin Pants" Hoban on guitar, who became part of the definitive Gorerotted line-up. To support the release, the band did a European tour with reunited Austrian Death metal legends Pungent Stench. This was to be the first of many shows and tours the 2 bands played with each other (and fittingly, both bands' last ever tours were together in 2008)
Gorerotted's 3rd and final album saw the band take a slightly darker approach -lyrically, musically and in terms of the artwork- whilst retaining their notorious tongue-in-cheek humour. The band travelled to Germany where the album was engineered by their at the time live sound engineer, which by all accounts didn't go too well, so was later salvaged by studio owner and producer, Necrophagist
bassist Stephan Fimmers
. The Japanese and European Limited Edition of this album included a DVD of the band performing at Summer Breeze Festival in Germany, and -in the band's words- a "pretty fucking questionable" cover of the Emperor song 'I Am The Black Wizards'
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
band formed in 1997 which split up in January 2008 and reformed with new members as The Rotted
The Rotted
-History:The band was formed from the ashes of death metal / grindcore ensemble Gorerotted by ex-members Ben McCrow, Tim Carley, and Phil Wilson, along with Gian Pyres and Nate Gould due to a musical progression and a desire for less limiting lyrical themes: the band themselves say that The...
. Gorerotted's lyrics and song titles were largely inspired by horror films, and dealt with subjects such as death, mutilation
Mutilation
Mutilation or maiming is an act of physical injury that degrades the appearance or function of any living body, usually without causing death.- Usage :...
, necrophilia
Necrophilia
Necrophilia, also called thanatophilia or necrolagnia, is the sexual attraction to corpses,It is classified as a paraphilia by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association. The word is artificially derived from the ancient Greek words: νεκρός and φιλία...
, and later alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
and drug abuse
Drug abuse
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not considered dependent. The term "drug abuse" does not exclude dependency, but is otherwise used in a similar manner in nonmedical contexts...
. The band's song titles often incorporated humorous rhymes or puns such as "Cut, Gut, Beaten, Eaten", "Masticated by the Spasticated", and "Only Tools and Corpses", a pun
Pun
The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...
on the popular British sitcom, Only Fools and Horses
Only Fools and Horses
Only Fools and Horses is a British sitcom, created and written by John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom between 1981 and 1991, with sporadic Christmas specials until 2003...
, the latter beginning with a suspiciously similar introductory drumbeat to the sitcom's theme music.
Musically, Gorerotted employed a distinctive dual vocal style. Originally with Ben delivering a deep, death growl
Death growl
A death growl, also known as death metal vocals, guttural vocals, death grunts, and harsh vocals among other names, is a vocalisation style usually employed by vocalists of the death metal and black metal music genre, but also used in a variety of heavy metal and hardcore punk subgenres.Death...
-style, and Mr. Gore providing contrast to this with a high-pitched yelling and screaming. When Wilson joined as the band's bass player on the album Only Tools and Corpses he also added to the vocals by delivering high-pitched growls and additional screams, thus the band had 3 different voices going at times. After Mr. Gore's departure in 2004, Wilson took over his vocal parts in the older songs. The guitar riffs are often fast and technical, with the bass usually doubling these parts. Both the guitars and the bass are tuned down one whole-step (guitars are tuned to D), to achieve a heavier sound. The drumming is extremely fast, often making use of blast beat
Blast beat
A blast beat is a drum beat often associated with extreme metal and grindcore, although its usage predates the genres, and is utilised by many different styles of metal...
s and double bass.
Ben McCrow and Tim Carley of Gorerotted are currently working under the name The Rotted and are signed to Metal Blade Records
Metal Blade Records
Metal Blade Records is a record label which was founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The U.S. corporate office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Arizona, Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distributed in the U.S. by Sony BMG Music...
and have previously released albums on Relapse Records
Relapse Records
Relapse Records is an independent record label based in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Matthew F. Jacobson in 1990.-History:The label was started by Matthew F. Jacobson in August, 1990 in his parents' basement in Aurora, Colorado...
, IBD Records and Deepsend Records.
Jason "Mr. Gore" Merle & Graham "Nutty Strangeways" Hodis, the 2 original vocalists of Gorerotted, are currently working under the name Gorebound & released an e.p entitled "It's Choppin' Time" in the summer of 2010.
Discography
- Her Gash I Did Slash (Demo, 1998)
Gorerotted's first demo, recorded at Phillia Studios, UK. It was limited to 1500 copies and sold at early gigs. The demo featured an embryonic line-up, with only founding member Tim "Fluffy" Carley remaining throughout the band's career. "Limb by Limb" and "Carrion Smelling" later appeared as re-recorded version on the Split Your Guts Vol. 1 split CD. Along with "Stab Me Till I Cum" being re-recorded for the debut full length album Mutilated in Minutes and "Her Gash I Did Slash" being re-recorded and put on the second release, Only Tools and Corpses. Kerrang gave the demo 1 out of 5 and stated "This band use murder, violence and the suffering of others to sell their rather shoddy product," a description the band took and used as a backprint for their very first T-Shirt.
- Mutilated in MinutesMutilated in MinutesMutilated in Minutes is the debut album by the deathgrind band Gorerotted, they previously to this album recorded a demo, "Her Gash I Did Slash" in 1998...
(Relapse Records/Dead Again/IBD, 2001)
The band's first official release, now featuring vocalist Ben "Babysliced/Goreskin" McCrow who remained the band's frontman throughout their career. Recorded with Dave Chang at Phillia Studios, UK, the album went on to enter the 'Top 10 Gore Albums Of All Time' poll in Terrorizer magazine and attracted the attentions of Cudgel Agency who booked the band for their annual open air 'Fuck The Commerce' festival. It's here that future label Metal Blade Records were exposed to the band. Eventually licensed to Replase Records for all territories outside Europe, featuring fresh artwork by Jake of cult underground horror comic Tales From Uranus (USA), based on the original version by Rob Filth of Filth Comics/TBAC (UK)
- Split Your Guts Vol. 1 (Deepsend Records, 2002)
The first of many split CD releases by US label Deepsend Records. Also featured Gronibard (France) and Gruesome Stuff Relish (Spain) Tracks were recorded during the Only Tools & Corpses sessions.
- Only Tools and Corpses (Metal Blade Records, 2003)
After signing to Metal Blade, the band again utilized the producing skills of Dave Chang at Phillia Studios for their second release. The title was of course a pun on the name of the band's favourite comedy series of all time, 'Only Fools And Horses.' Joining the band for this release were long-serving members Phil Wilson on bass and Matt "Robin Pants" Hoban on guitar, who became part of the definitive Gorerotted line-up. To support the release, the band did a European tour with reunited Austrian Death metal legends Pungent Stench. This was to be the first of many shows and tours the 2 bands played with each other (and fittingly, both bands' last ever tours were together in 2008)
- A New Dawn for the DeadA New Dawn for the DeadA New Dawn for the Dead is the third studio album by the British death metal bandGorerotted, released in 2005 through Metal Blade Records.-Track listing:# "...And Everything Went Black" – 4:12# "Pain as a Prelude to Death" – 3:09...
(Metal Blade Records, 2005)
Gorerotted's 3rd and final album saw the band take a slightly darker approach -lyrically, musically and in terms of the artwork- whilst retaining their notorious tongue-in-cheek humour. The band travelled to Germany where the album was engineered by their at the time live sound engineer, which by all accounts didn't go too well, so was later salvaged by studio owner and producer, Necrophagist
Necrophagist
Necrophagist is a German death metal band, founded and fronted by Muhammed Suiçmez; a German-born, Turkish guitarist and vocalist. The band is known for its rapid and technical compositions....
bassist Stephan Fimmers
Stephan Fimmers
Stephan Fimmers is a proficient German bassist who plays for the German technical/brutal death metal band Necrophagist. He joined Necrophagist in 2003 and followed the work of Heiko Linzert who left the band shortly before the album Epitaph was recorded and released in 2004.-Playing...
. The Japanese and European Limited Edition of this album included a DVD of the band performing at Summer Breeze Festival in Germany, and -in the band's words- a "pretty fucking questionable" cover of the Emperor song 'I Am The Black Wizards'
Last Line-Up
- Ben McCrowBen McCrow- History :Ben McCrow is the vocalist of British death metal act The Rotted.He started his musical career in 1999 as front man of the band’s previous incarnation, Gorerotted and appears on every album released by the band...
(a.k.a. Babysliced, Goreskin) - Vocals - Gian PyresGian PyresGian Pyres is a British guitarist, best known for his work with extreme metal band Cradle of Filth for which he co-wrote and recorded guitars for Dusk And Her Embrace , Cruelty and the Beast , Midian , Bitter Suites to Succubi and Lovecraft & Witch Hearts...
- Lead Guitar - Tim Carley (a.k.a. Fluffy Offalstench, Tim'Rotted) - Guitar
- Phil Wilson - Bass & Vocals
- "Junky" Jon Rushforth (a.k.a. Rushy) - Drums
Additional members
- Jason "Mr. Gore" Merle - 2nd Vocalist (1997–2004)
- David C. "Dicksplash" Hëwitt - Lead Guitar (1999–2001)
- Steve "Mr. Smith" Smith - Bass (1997–2001)
- Graham "Nutty Strangeways" Hodis - Vocals ("Her Gash I Did Slash" demo 1998)
- Matt Hoban (a.k.a. Robin Pants) - Lead Guitar (2001–2008)