Gorod to Make India Debut This Week
The Bordeaux tech-death metallers’ frontman Julien Deyres on their India tour and why they can fit on any metal lineup
When one of the most technically incisive metal bands in the circuit, French act Gorod, got called up to tour Europe with American thrash metallers Havok earlier this year, they decided it was as good a time as any to write a thrash metal EP.
Kiss The Freak, which released in April in time with their tour, took form when the band gathered at drummer Karol Diers’ birthday. Frontman Julien Deyres recalls, “We were talking. ”˜Okay, let’s make a thrash metal EP and I think we can do it in two months’. And we said, ”˜Okay, let’s go!’ It was sort of a challenge for us.” Guitarist and co-founder Mathieu Pascal had also been to a Municipal Waste show, thoroughly impressed by the Virginia thrash veterans, that led to writing “Dig Into Yourself,” featured on their 2015 full-length A Maze of Recycled Creeds.
And it was clearly perfect for the tour, which Deyres describes as one of the most easygoing, party-friendly run of shows he’s been on. The vocalist draws comparisons with their first ever U.S. tour in 2013, promoting their 2012 album A Perfect Absolution. Deyres says, “We were driving the van ourselves and the conditions were extremely harsh and rough. We slept like two or three hours a day. It’s a huge country! We had to drive 10 hours everywhere and we were doing it on our own. It was very brutal, but in the end, it was a crazy experience. But that was the rewarding part–it can’t be easy all the time. When it’s easy, it’s interesting and when it’s hard, it’s interesting too.”
Gorod are now gearing up for another debut tour experience, slated to perform in seven cities across India between October 22nd and 29th, alongside UK tech-metallers Meta-Stasis. Deyres has spoken about visiting the country with fellow Frenchman Léo Margarit, from Swedish prog band Pain of Salvation. The vocalist says, “He [Margarit] was there and he told me it was pretty crazy. I think they only played one festival, but yeah, it’s something completely new to me and to the band as well.”
Organized by Orka Networks, the tour includes stops in Bengaluru, the North East, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune and Goa. For the band’s part, Deyres says they’ll play songs off every album in their discography, something that now spans over two decades. The vocalist adds that it will be exactly 20 years for the band [officially] between September and October, with the celebration happening on the road in India. He says, “I think we’ll try to play songs from every album. We’ll play something from the last EP and the five albums. Maybe one from the first, and two or three from the rest, not to disappoint anyone and just to play across our discography.”
It’s also possibly the last set of shows on their current album cycle, which is now nearing two years of promotion. Deyres says, “We plan to go and write the new album [after the India tour]. I think we won’t be touring before spring or summer 2018.”
It looks like there’ll be plenty to draw inspiration from, considering Deyres really wants to experience India “without any judgments.” He adds, “I’ve traveled a lot in my life, but I’ve never gone to India. I don’t want to know too much before going there, I want to discover it and feel like a new-born child going there.”
Gorod & Meta-Stasis Morbidity Vol III
October 22nd – The Humming Tree, Bengaluru w/Eccentric Pendulum, Hostilian
October 24th – Joysing Doloi Auditorium, Diphu
October 25th – O2 Panjabari, Guwahati w/Third Sovereign, Agnostic
October 26th – Club Boudoir, Kolkata w/Killkount, Obliterating Vortex + more
October 27th – Blue Frog, Pune w/Elemental, Dead Exaltation, Hostilian
October 28th – Fubar Live, Hyderabad
Buy tickets here.