Interview With Gorefest
Welcome to the first of (hopefully) many band spotlights here at Teeth of the Divine .com. Think of this as our version of VH1’s Behind the Music. The aim with these features is to take you a little deeper into some of the more influential, important and respected band in metal. Band’s that through their albums, shaped genres, defined sounds and for many, changed lives. Some bands are still charging on, continuing to adding to their legacy, while other have since call it quits, allowing their recordings to continue their impact and legacy…
Gorefest had arrived, and with the addition of some new blood came a record deal with Germany’s Nuclear Blast Records, one of the most revered metal labels of the early 90s, who were spearheading the primitive death metal movement. With seminal releases from the likes of Righteous Pigs, Dimmu Borgir, Dissection, Hypocrisy, Atrocity, Master, Holland’s own Gorefest were now rubbing shoulders with some of metal first and foremost acts and needed an album to warrant being on the label. And that album was 1992s False. A classic death metal record in every sense, False put Gorefest into the death metal elite, and with Nuclear Blast seal, the album got the band some recognition on American shores- as I myself can distinctly remember walking into a Camelot Records store and seeing False displayed out from along side the likes of Nirvana, Soundgarden and Alice In Chains. Dutch death metal in a large US CD retail store? And even having videos on MTV? Who would have thought? The fact remains though, I feel if you were to poll numerous, older death metal fans, journalist and critics, False would arguably rank in the top 25 death metal albums ever released. And deservedly so, to me, opener “The Glorious Dead” remains one of the best metal tracks ever recorded, and the likes of “State of Mind”, “Reality -When you Die” and “From Ignorance to Oblivion” show a band with supreme confidence at the top of their game and addressing lyrical issues outside of typical death metal realms. “We wrote False pretty much free of any pressures or expectations, not limiting ourselves too much” Frank explains about the albums free form sound. “Getting Boudewijn Bonebakke guitar and Ed Warby on drums in the band brought a lot of inspiration and creativity, and I think that shows. Obviously the album most people remember us for, and for us the album that brought us a lot of opportunities. Lots of mid-tempo stuff here, though Ed’s playing makes it sound a lot faster than most songs actually are. Good memories for this one. My Favorite songs from False are “Get A Life”, “From Ignorance To Oblivion”, “The Glorious Dead” and various parts all over. I wouldn’t change too much about it. Ed hates the way his drums sound, so he’d definitely change that”.
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intresting article! thank you for reminding me of these guys: back in ’97 False and Soul Survivor were first death metal albums I heard, friend of mine gave me bootleg tape with False on the one side and SS on the other, I liked it so much – listened to it for days, untill tape in the cassette wore out) Don’t even know why I ignored both their come back albums, it’s time to give them a try)
on Dec 1st, 2009 at 01:38I like this idea, i think its interesting to get some behind the scenes info and insights from bands. I’m not really a huge gorefest fan but this was well written and interesting nonetheless.
on Dec 1st, 2009 at 06:34Nicely done!
Gorefest were always one of my faves, with False being a call to arms for my much of the late 90s. As I’ve aged (finely haha) I’ve gained more of an appreciation for the Soul and Chapter, but I did agree with you at first in regard to C13. Hearing Frank’s perspective on it really help(ed/s), and overall it’s really cool that you put this together. Definitely a cult band that after their hiatus were uncommonly stronger than over.
Cool to see, thanks for the hard work to get this up!
on Dec 1st, 2009 at 16:39Great feature!!!! Can we get one on BELIEVER? That would be sssoooo cool!!!
on Dec 1st, 2009 at 19:26Really good article. I picked up the Fear EP in ’94 and never gave these guys a 2nd thought. When they came back with “La Muerte” in ’05 I was buying for the metal section at Tower records and a good thing as I was able to pick up Pt. 1 & 2 od the reissues NB put out. False, Mindloss and Erase are kickass death metal and should be owned by every fan of extreme music.
Has anyone checked out the Asphyx reissues yet? “Embrace The Death” so good….
on Dec 2nd, 2009 at 01:11I’m the fifth person that liked Chapter 13. I understand what they were trying to do; culling from disparate influences to come up with an original sound. For all intents and purposes, an experiment that functioned within and far beyond the metal spectrum at the same time. Great record.
Thing is, I love this band. They’ll never be a footnote to me. Frank, Boudewijn, Jan-Chris and Ed, you’ll always be death metal royalty to me. Gorefest will always have a special place in my record collection, in my mind and in my heart.
on Dec 7th, 2009 at 02:35Oh and I forgot to thank Erik for this wonderful retrospective. Thank you, man. I enjoyed this immensely.
on Dec 7th, 2009 at 02:39