Guyođ Interview

 

1.Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?

Absolutely! Right now (early 2025) we are rather busy, as our focus lies on our next output, the follow-up to "Heart of Thy Abyss". In concrete this means, we are recording and producing the new material (all by ourselves) and putting finishing touches on the songs, while taking care of the artwork, music video(s), photo shooting, booking, contacting labels and distributors... all of the things that come with the whole process. We will also take care of mixing and mastering on our own this time around (as we did on our split EP "Alluvial Soil" in 2022), and are quite excited for the result, as you can imagine. We do not get bored, in our dark realms right now, that much can be said!

2.So far you have released a split and full length, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style that you went for on the recordings?

With pleasure! The two songs that we chose for "Alluvial Soil" were both slower material for us, more kind of doom-metal oriented, if you will. Picking those two had multiple reasons. First, not all of our songs were sufficiently advanced in the writing process in those early days, but "Unfathomable Depths" and "Into the Temple of Vepar" were exactly as we wanted them to be already. Also, since we joined with our friends in LEHM (who have a very doomy sound) for the split, it made sense to us to choose slow material to have this common thread shining through.

As for the album, we wanted, NEEDED to show that our palette was wider than that though. Doom metal is definitely one of our major influences and an important pillar in our sound, but black and death metal are certainly equally important ingredients to us. Those tendencies already came through in the songs on the split a bit, but our whole sound and musical range just becomes more clear if you listen to the album. Listeners will find more chaos and rage on the one hand, but even deeper holes of slow doom to sink into on the other.

3.One of your songs covers the Goetic demon Vepar, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in demonology and occultism?

Certainly, glad you picked up on this one. Since we are a thematic band focusing on the element of water, the oceans and their dark, brooding depths, it made sense for us to hail Vepar in one of our songs. One could say that in our approach to creating art we are very much torn between Romanticism and Modernism. On the one hand, our work can be seen as an ode to a rather romanticized image of nature. One that stands very much above humankind in terms of being far more powerful, enduring, eventually indomitable. We are basically trying to detach ourselves from humanity and all its pitiful attempts of controlling nature. At the same time, there are Modernist elements in our lyrics, where we take on more subjective and abstract stances. In our music, you could interpret this ambivalence in our atmospheric parts standing for Romanticism, and the more complex, intricate parts for Modernism.

To really get back to your actual question now, I would say that demonology and occultism can be seen as counter movements to living in a modern world, attempts to flee from, or come to terms with the material world. I daresay that our live shows (which we like to call rituals or ceremonies) are very much in that otherworldly spirit. Even though we do not consider ourselves true occultists, we still like to borrow elements of it to create the atmosphere we wish to feel ourselves, and that we hope for people feel when listening to our songs, or seeing us live.

4.Some of your lyrics where also inspired by the writings of Charles Baudelaire and Herman Melville, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in their writings?

Since I just mentioned Romanticism and Modernism, these two authors fit in very well. Baudelaire is sometimes referred to as "the first Modernist", while Melville can be seen as a representative of (gothic) Romanticism. However, us using part of these men's works on our album has to do with our ocean-themed approach. In Melville's case, we actually did not use his own words, but quoted line from the 1956 "Moby Dick" movie in our "Thy Everlasting Lightless Realm"-trilogy. Baudelaire however is more directly and heavily featured in that same trilogy, as his poem "L'homme et la mer" ("Man and the Sea") is used in its totality there. However, we decided not to use the French original, but an English translation by Cyril Scott. Both Baudelaire, as he compares the human psyche to the sea, as well as Melville's epic about the white whale just spoke to us and really fit our music well, we think.

5.What are some of the other lyrical topics and subjects the band has explored so far with the music?

Well, we always refer to the sea in one way or another. Sometimes we just relish in the majesty of this force of nature (in "Guyot" or "Watcher in the Dark", for example). Other times we use the nautical setting to tell other stories. "First Wave of Destruction", the album's opener, tells about the downfall of humankind through the forces of water and can be paralleled to how humanity destroys itself by flooding the world with war and terror. (If you listen closely, you will detect war-sounds in the intro sample, behind the rushing waves.) The afore mentioned trilogy is a sort of inner monologue of a person drowning. The three chapters focus on the process of going down ("Descension"), body and soul being detached, or life leaving the body ("Abscission") and a final rush of (futile) rebellion against death ("Eruption) at the end. One last example, "Unfathomable Depths" is actually heavily based in Stanislaw Lem's novel "Solaris", which is set on this mysterious planet that is totally covered with this menacing ocean.

6.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Guyođ'?

Our band name is a modification of the term "guyot", which refers to seamounts, dead underwater volcanoes flattened to table mounts by the tides.

7.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?

Absolutely! We collaborated with the Serbian artist Khaos Diktator for that one. Our singer Ōjin brought him up since he was a big fan of his work. We were very happy that he agreed to work with us, and the artwork is based on a few basic inputs and ideas from us, leaving him enough freedom to create something on his own. We especially enjoy the mysterious atmosphere of this underwater cave with the light shining on the sunken hull of a ship. The obscure tentacles all around the scenery enhance the menacing flair and raise associations to Lovecraftian topics. Even though we have not yet dealt with Lovecraft's world in our music yet, his work is definitely also an influence to us. Back to Khaos Dikator, we are so happy with what we created that we can already disclose that he will also be responsible for our next artwork.

8.Out of all the tours and shows the band has played so far, which one stand out the most?

As for singular shows, probably our late night show at Kaltenbach Open Air 2024, probably Austria's most renowned extreme metal festival. The vibes of playing our sinister material in the middle of the night was just unbeatable. We were lucky that our trusted video maker Reviddy had time to film the show for us. We released a live video for the song "Thy Everlasting Lightless Realm, pt. I: Descension" last October, which gives people who have not seen us live yet how a GUYOÐ live ritual looks like.

As for tours, our first longer one took place in early 2024, when we hit the road with our friends in NEKRODEUS and played a few shows in Austria, Switzerland, and Italy. The whole experience was very special for us, since, as I said, it was the first time for us being on the road together for longer than a few days. On a personal level, you get to know each other just more intensely when you spend that much time together, and we certainly grew closer together as a band. Also playing with Nekrodeus is always a blast - they are an awesome, intense live band and great people to have around. Also to mention, Reviddy was with us for the whole tour and created a little tour aftermovie which can be found on our official channel.

9.Do you have any touring or show plans for 2025?

As for now, only 2 shows in April (in Croatia and Slovenia) are disclosed for this year. We are still very much occupied with the new release, but further live shows will certainly be announced in due time!

10.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black, doom and death metal?

Pretty good! We received messages from people all around the globe who stumbled over our music and apparently enjoy what we create. Just recently, an acquaintance of ours sent us a video of our music video for "Watcher in the Dark" being played in a club in Tokyo, which of course made us pretty proud. Needless to say that we have still a lot of room to grow our audience. Right now, our streaming numbers of Spotify do not look that great, for example. But what matters most is what we receive back from individuals who reach out to tell us how much they like our music. This is the greatest reward as a musician.

11.When can we expect new music and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

Our upcoming release can be reckoned with in 2025. We are a bit cautious about making too precise predictions, since we are still working on it. Also, it is still not decided which label we are going to release it on, but time will tell. Musically, the new songs definitely have a fresh feel about them and refine our style more closely. Our basic ingredients are still the same, so people should be able to recognize our style, while still getting something new and different.

12.What are some of the bands or musical styles the band members are listening to nowadays?

Our singer Ōjin has Korgonthurus or Wolvennest in his heavy rotation. Rehoboth (drums) currently delves into Triptykon, or All Them Witches, while Daikakuji (bass) listens to Abditory or Reek of Death (a band from our region who have just released their new album, which Daikakuji mastered). I myself really enjoy listening Dordeduh or Mord'A'Stigmata at the moment, both excellent bands!

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

Well, thank you very much for this opportunity, I found your questions very inspiring. And to anybody who reads this: check out our sinister material and get in touch. We hope to hear from you! Do not go gentle into that night, let the depths embrace you!

Website: www.guyod.net
Facebook: www.facebook.com/guyodofficial
Instagram: www.instagram.com/guyod_official