Gotmoor

HELLO Nevel! Please tell us about the foundation of Gotmoor back in 1996. How did you find together?

Storm and I had been friends for a few years. We lived close to each other and we saw each other a lot at concerts. Because of our shared passion for melodic black metal we decided to start a black metal project together. Storm played the drums and I played the guitar. After a few months (we had already written a few numbers) a singer, bass player and keyboardspeler were added.

Throughout the years there have been a few members that came and went. But Storm and I have always been the heart of Gotmoor.

Which bands are your main influences? And have those influences changed all over the years?

Difficult question because I have a very broad taste in music. It goes from Classical, Progressive Rock (Mike Oldfield, Pink Floyd), Movie and gameSoundtracks to the early Norse Black Metal albums from bands such as Emperor, Satyricon, Enslaved and Immortal, Gotmoor wants to create their own brand of multilayered Black Metal.

You changed your lyrical topics from trolls and Flemish history to misanthropy? Why?

Hmm, there is actually not such a big difference. Our numbers are about castles, forests, fields where there is a battle, …. The album Pain Provider has taken an another direction. But the lyrics from Zonderlingen is close to the lyrics from Vlaamsche Primitieven. Pagus Flandrensis and Verheft het Vaandel are for example about the battles that took place in Flanders. The battles took place to preserve or recapture possessions and properties.

Most of the songs take place in the middle ages, but the themes on Zonderlingen are very recognisable in our present society. A society where capitalism and greed takes the upper hand in our welfare. Where leaders make decisions that is in their own favour instead of making choices for the common interest. A society where there is a noticeable growing gap between rich and poor, a high count of suicides, individualism …This evolution does make you think.

You always had Dutch instead of English lyrics as far as I know. What are the reaons for that?

We actually think that Dutch has nice fonetic sounds. In our opinion it actually matches nicely with the music. And it is also our first language which we are very proud of.

You release two demos, a compilation with both demos and an album in the past. Are all those releases still available? And if not: Are there any re-releases planned in the near future?

The album Pain Provider is still available. We have already thought about releasing an LP for Vlaamsche Primitieven. That plan will become more of a reality over the next few months.

What was the reason for the five-years-break from 2005 to 2010? What went wrong?

Gotmoor has always been a band with periods of inactivity. The switching of members, focus on another musical project , hard to combinate with our jobs, ….

were most of the time the cause. For us it wasn’t strange to have periods of inactivity. It gave us time to work on other things.

The band is partly from The Netherlands and partly from Belgium. How do you rehearse?

Hahaha, we rehearse in Belgium near the French border. For some of us that means driving 180 km.

Since the evolution of technology this has become a lot easier. We always put ideas for new numbers in our music software on our computer. Then we digitally work them out till they are ready. Then we mail back and forth to make changes. We only do rehearsels to try out our new songs or to prepare for recordings or gigs.

Since the reunion in 2010 and the release of the new album, more than ten years passed. So how much time did it actually take to write and record the songs?

After the reunion Storm and I wanted to start writing again. We both had so many inspirations for songs that we wanted to put in an album. Luckily Hammerman was also enthousiastic about our plan. Which is a good thing because he is important for the sound of Gotmoor.

But this did indeed take a little while. Our only goal was making an album that we were a 100% happy about. And the need to make a perfect album you can take literal. Sometimes to the annoyance of other members, hahaha. For Zonderlingen we initially wrote 22 songs. From those 22 we kept the 9 best ones. Afterwards we went over the drum, bass and singing with a lot of detail to look for the best completion of our numbers. A few members switched in between the making of the numbers and a few members also lived in other countries for a few months every year. …. Looking back afterwards this all could have gone way faster. But this was also a learning proces to let go of our perfectionism. But I admit that this happens with a lot of trouble.

Where did you record, and who was the producer?

Our recording locations were not always in the same place. Drum en bass were recorded and edited in Hammerman his studio, all guitar pieces and orchestrations were recorded and edited in my home studio. Singing was recorded in the re-amping studio in the Netherlands.

Then for the mixing and mastering we worked together with producer Andy Classen. We give a big thanks to Andy. He gave us the sound that we wanted.

How did you get in contact with Headbangers Records and Big Bad Wolf Records for the release of the new album?

After the masterproces we sent our music to a lot of different labels. Finally it was Headbangers Records who were very interested in our music and made us a fair deal. D’n Osschaert has known the guys of headbangers for many years. This helped a lot in the music scene where there is a lot of competition.

Do you also play live? And have you maybe supported bigger bands already?

We never played a lot of live music in the past. Concerts gave us a lot of frustration because the bad sounds. The complexity and style of our songs made it hard to get a good live sound. But we will play a few, don’t worry.

Let´s also talk about the Dutch and Belgian Black Metal scene, okay? Because there´s hardly talk about it although you have great hordes out there! I´m a hugh fan of bands like Funeral Winds, Infinity, Inferi, Domini Inferi, Haatstrijd, Striid, Bestial Summoning, Cirith Gorgor, Deinonychus, Fluisterwoud, Doodswens, Tartaros etc. from The Netherlands and Enthroned, Paragon Impure, Goat Torment, Svartkrist, Lugubrum etc. from Belgium.

Of course! I think a lot of bands bring out a lot of good stuff. Black metal has gotten more famous over the last few years in Belgium. I can only encourage it. But for me the Scandinavian metalscene has always been my favourite. But I think this has a lot to do with nostalgic feelings.

What are your future plans with Gotmoor?

We hope to perform our new album live. Then we will wait and see what comes our way. Storm and I have dreamt for many years to do something crazy and original with a mix of black metal and classical music. Who knows what the future will bring us.

Okay, Nevel! The last words are yours?

I truly hope that our album has a positive release. And that our album can be an inspiration to others. I just hope that these wicked times will be over soon and that we can enjoy concerts with all of our friends.

https://www.facebook.com/Gotmoor-1546334075600243/

-Daniel Muller-