When UK death purveyors Gorerotted announced that they had changed their name to the punkier moniker, The Rotted earlier this year, the underground waited with baited breath. Was the dependable Death-Metal unit going to alter their sound too far from their proven formula? Now that their new album, Get Dead Or Die Trying in stores, its clear The Rotted not only are as brutal as ever, they’ve also changed their horror/gore inspired lyrical formula and written a batch of songs about a subject far scarier; themselves! SMN News caught up with guitarist Gian Pyers (ex-Cradle of Filth, Solstice) and had a quick chat about the new album.

The obvious question is why did you guys decide on changing the name?  Was it more of a “fresh start” kind of move?

Yes, the band wanted a fresh start without having to release this material under an older banner. Mates and fans have been calling us “The Rotted” as a friendly nickname for ages before the name change. So we did it out of respect for all the old Gorerotted fans and old band members.

The opening cut, “Nothin’ But A Nosebleed” is a real speed fest and definitely makes a statement! But then you close out the album with “28 Days Later” which is a slow-burning, trippy instrumental. How important was the sequencing on Get Dead Or Die Trying?

It’s a good thing you asked that because on Get Dead Or Die Trying we took the sequencing rather seriously, from the band all the way up to Mr. Russ Russell (the producer) at the mixing desk. For example, the song previously or after cannot defer from the current and that kind of thing. So emphasis was the key basically.

While the album still has the savage riffing and ferocity fans came to expect from Gorerotted, there are many more melodic moments throughout the material.  What’s the writing process like these days?  Do you all write on your own and then bring in ideas to practice?

A lot of bands these days write on their PCs or Macs at home and turn up to band practices with loads of riffs but not us, we’re old school. You get a better “feel” for music having the real deal, not sat in some bedroom with the volume turned down to 1 on some shitty pair of headphones.

We mainly jam the stuff altogether as a band in the rehearsal room with amps and drums blaring, that way you get the real feel of writing as a coherent live unit.

Lyrically, Ben has gone from horror/gore themed songs to writing about his and the band’s personal experience.  From the sound of it, you guys have had some “interesting” things happen on tour!  Can you get into the inspiration behind a song like “It’s Like There’s A Party In My Mouth (And Everyone’s Being Sick)” without incriminating anyone in the band?

Not really, it’s about a pretty depraved act we witnessed, I won’t name the perpetrator but if you read the lyrics it’s all fairly clear what happened.

Ever since the Gorerotted days, there’s been a refreshing sense of comedy to the lyrics.  There seems to be something innately “British” about them to me.  Is that a fair call?

Its kinda “British” to just have a cynical laugh at ourselves, but we are just more realistic about ourselves, how many South American, Eastern European or American DM bands have you seen all standing around in long sleeved shirts looking “deadly pissed off & serious”? Yeah, thousands right!?  The Rotted are more down to earth and real, what you see is what you get, there is no divide between the music and us, it’s all real and lived by the minute.

“Angel of Meth” has a really hooky chorus and there are other moments on the record that have a catchy quality to them.  It lends the songs a definite feel of classicism that other bands playing extreme Metal don’t seem to have.  When you put a song like that together, are you consciously trying to write a huge chorus?

I suppose a lot of musicians love to have a few hooks within the song, and a chorus is a good place to have one. Yeah, in a songwriting way we are aware that catchiness and groove should not be overlooked especially when the riff fits

Is there any musical element to playing in Cradle of Filth that you especially miss?

I do not have any elements missing from my musical “bag o’ tricks” and frequently draw upon most of my influences when writing riffs past present and future, If you listen carefully to The Rotted album you will hear a lot of those past influences in their somewhere

If there’s a younger reader looking at this right now who is just getting into playing guitar, what kind of advice would you give them?  How did you get started?

I started out when I was 15, just managed to get enough money from my paper round to get an electric Stratocaster copy and some shitty little 30 watt amp, it was a chunk of shit mind you lol, but it  served its purpose; to annoy everyone within a block of  my  bedroom!

The advice I have to give is, to have fun first and foremost, don’t be grinding your teeth trying to play stuff that is out of your league, and take it one step at a time. I find that most people learn faster and better if they actually enjoy what they are doing in the1st place

What 3 albums are essential in any Metalhead’s album collection?

Damn only 3?

OK, a hard one but here is a good start:

Testament - The New Order
Cathedral - The Carnival Bizarre
Emperor - In The Nightside Eclipse

By Carlos Ramirez

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