The Rotted Feature Interview    By Victoria Walsh

“I saw some ridiculous shit written online when we first came back as The Rotted”...

Ben McCrow, frontman of London’s crusty D-Beater’s, The Rotted remembers the knee-jerk reactions some fans had as a result of their previous incarnation's shift from funtime gore and brutality in Gorerotted, to the re-focused and re-named outfit they have today. Ben is joined in this extreme alliance by co-founder Tim Carley on guitars with Nate Gould providing the battery and Reverend Trudgil on bass, altogether they create a noise that is as true to its origins as it is heavy. “We kind of met up in Central London where there was a healthy metal scene, even in the days before there were six different tours coming through every night. It’s definitely evident in our sound, a lot of bands these days sound Swedish or American regardless of where they come from, but there’s no mistaking the Britishness of our music,” he explains.

Perhaps in the current industry where everything seems to come down to pigeon-holes and ridiculously named sub-genres, this honest approach to music is what at first discouraged acceptance of the bands new sound. Artists and fans alike are always looking to seek out a label or a comparison, as Ben states when speaking about the attitude toward Gorerotted and The Rotted. “There are still people who can’t get their head around it and feel they have to pick one or compare them both the whole time. It’s a weird way of looking at music, it’s like me saying 'I like Carcass but I prefer Napalm Death' or 'I like At The Gates but I prefer Disfear'. Instead I just enjoy them as the separate bands they are.” This all being said, Ben also acknowledges the progress they’ve made, shown through the way people are at last beginning to understand where they’re coming from, which is definitely the case. Their latest attack, ‘Ad Nauseum’ was released in October and since then it has received global praise, has already been cited in numerous top 20’s of this year’s releases and is a body of work that sees a band bursting with potential and who are comfortable with that very notion.

With all this momentum, it’s easy for a band to gain a warped sense of self, which again, is something of the tip of The Rotted’s tongue. The track ‘Motörbastärds’ from the new album for example. “Motörbastärds is a tribute to the kings! Obviously Motörhead, but also Black Sabbath and later bands like Celtic Frost, Discharge and Napalm Death that changed music. It’s a mark of respect for the masters and a fuck you to the kind of twats that have been around for 5 minutes but already have this totally misguided sense of self-importance and think they know it all. Those motherfuckers won’t change shit!!” It’s this no-bullshit approach to their music that sets The Rotted apart and means they’ll always be slippery fuckers to pin down and label, as Ben humbly concludes,  “It’s just us as we are, it’s honesty - music needs to be honest and a product of its environment, otherwise it sounds contrived and forced, so we let our personalities come through in what we do with The Rotted. We don’t think we’re rockstars, we don’t have ridiculous egos and we haven’t forgotten where we came from, The Rotted is about making the music we 100% love and believe in, no compromise, no external interference.”

Feature by Victoria Walsh