A Dirty Dozen with MORSROT – July 2022

According to a recent press release: “Thundering from the tiny Island of Malta, four youngsters’ (respectively in their mid-teen’s) pounds old school Brutal Death Metal to the centre of your core. Influenced by the Master of Early Death Metal, MORSROT started crushing riffs in early 2021. The band has been busy practicing and a four-track demo EP has been recorded as their first opus and released to the world on YouTube. MORSROT had their baptism of fire when they played their very first Metal festival in early 2022 – the Metal City Festival – Malta’s biggest showcase of rock and metal bands of the year followed by a gig at the hottest Metal club in Malta – The Garage Metal Venue. MORSROT are Kieran Brannon (Guitars, Vocals), Gabriel Gellel (Guitars, Vocals), Jean Gouder (Bass), and Alex Fenech (Drums). The band were received positively by the local Metal Heads welcoming them with a fierce mosh pit while crushing each track live. MORSROT will be playing live at festivals and gigs in Malta this Summer.” We get the band to discuss new music, influences, and more…

1. Tell us a little about your latest release.  What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through?  Are there any hidden nuggets you put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

Gabriel: Our latest release would be Carnal Enslavement a demo we had been working on for around a year since January 2021. A lot of the material was our first efforts as a band writing a song. I would describe the first-time listening is very similar to the feeling of smelling a pungent Fart you don’t pick up the strawberry and chicken accents till the second time round, but our music is very blatant and in your face most of the time.

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

Kieran: As a kid, I remember being fascinated by all sorts of music from funk to metal. Bands like Queen, AC/DC, and Led Zeppelin inspired me to properly learn the guitar but wasn’t certain I wanted to be a musician at first, as it was more of a hobby. Over time, I dived deeper into guitar and eventually started playing with other musicians. When I started a band with Gabriel and we started writing our own music, it was a completely new and different feeling, that I wanted more of.

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

Tsar Alexander: As a drummer I remember covering Sabbath and Nirvana songs and incorporating Bill Ward and Dave Grohl’s drumming into my own. Later on, bands like the Melvins and TOOL inspired me to improve my drumming even further. If I had to pick a single performer that inspires me, I would have to pick Dave Crover of the Melvins.

Question 4. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

Gabriel: If I could collab with anyone, alive or dead, I’d still pick Chick Corea. Kieran and I really enjoy jazz fusion as a nice contrast to the crass abrupt nature of metal and feel like someone like Chick could bring a very cool element when meshed with our music. Also having Chuck Schuldiner over for a collaboration (guitar or vocals) would be unreal considering what a heavy inspiration he’s been in regard to finding our style.

5. What is your favorite activity when out of the studio and/or not on tour? What do you like to do to unwind?

Kieran: We pretty much all do the same thing, when we’re not in the studio or gigging we mainly just write or play more music until we get sick of looking at each other. We don’t really do much other than that, we’re very boring in that regard.

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe, or you disagreed with?

Gabriel: I would probably describe it as straight forward death metal with elements pulled from everyone in the band’s music tastes, Kieran likes to incorporate classical music and hardcore punk, Alex is into sludge and prog, Jean brings in psychedelic rock and funk and I ‘m a post punk and fusion guy. One time someone compared us to Marilyn Manson, and I clenched my ass cheeks.

7. When your band is hanging out together, who cooks, who gets the drinks in, and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

Alex: When we’re hanging out I’m traditionally the cook, Kieran and Jean drink the most and no one tends to pick up the acoustic, but Gab annoys the fuck out of us with his shitty drumming.

8. When was the last time you were starstruck and who was it?

Kieran: A few weeks ago I went to an improv gig at a bar where my guitar teacher, Kyle Drakard, was playing. He busted out one of those solos that actually leaves your mouth wide open. He totally blew me away.

9. What is the best part of being a musician? If you could no longer be a musician forwhatever reason, what would be your dream job?

Gabriel: Playing with people you feel that kind of connection with and seeing new faces of people waiting to be inspired makes being a musician fully worthwhile. Even if I don’t provide that inspiration just having that opportunity is an honour in itself. If I had to pick something else, it would have to be something closely related to it like selling instruments or teaching people guitar. My passion personally will always be music in whatever shape or form it comes in.

10. What is one question you have always wanted an interviewer to ask – and what is the answer? Conversely, what question are you tired of answering?

Alex: Any question that can spark a conversation, especially about music that isn’t mine, that’s always entertaining to talk about. The question that got old the first time I heard it would be our age. Never fails.

11. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over,” even if it didn’t change your current situation?

Kieran: Considering we’ve only been together for a year, there aren’t too many missteps I can think of at the moment. Although there is one big one that comes to mind: Dropping the volume of the demo when editing the YouTube video, we put up. I hate how low the volume is there.

12. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for anyone record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

Gabriel: I would probably have to pick Symbolic by Death, such a ground-breaking album for the genre would be unbelievable to even watch being recorded let alone being part of it yourself. It has a special place in my heart being the first death metal record I had ever heard. When Kieran introduced me to it, I didn’t care much for it because of the vocals, but a few months later I gave it another shot and thought it was absolutely insane.

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Category: Interviews