Gore (Dutch band)

Gore was a Dutch rock band formed in 1985. They released five studio albums, one live album, one EP, two compilation albums with live material, demo recordings and remixes and had two compilation appearances between 1986 and 1997. They split up in 1997. Gore played their avant-garde hardcore solely instrumental. Their music was influenced by Metal and Industrial music and combined the darkest and heaviest moments of Black Sabbath, Black Flag and Big Black. They obtained an excellent live reputation in the hardcore scene of the late 80s and received predominantly positive reviews. Nevertheless, they remained unknown to the general public and never gained commercial success. Today GORE are considered seminal and highly influential. Their early works were groundbreaking for several subgenres, such as sludge metal, stoner rock and drone metal. The later Gore are considered predecessors of Math rock. After Pieter de Swart (guitar) and Martin van Kleef (bass) left their band Disgust, they started a new outfit with Danny Arnold Lommen (drums) who previously had played with Pandemonium. Very soon van Kleef left the band and was replaced by Rob Frey (bass) who works under the pen name Marij Hel. While playing in Gore Pieter de Swart used the pseudonym Pieter de Sury and Danny Arnold Lommen used several variations of his name, such as Danny A. Lome and Danny Arnold. Frey joining the band might be considered the actual starting point of Gore, and Frey is the only band member of the early days staying in the band until their final breakup in 1997. Although particularly de Swart wrote a lot of the early Gore songs, Frey is considered the creative mastermind behind the band. Especially after the bands regrouping in 1991 this position of Frey was undisputed. Gore played their first show on February 26 at the "Effenaar Club" in Eindhoven opening up for the Swans. In March the band's first album Hart Gore was recorded at Tango Studios in Eindhoven. The record was published by the Dutch label Eksakt Records. Hart Gore was recorded live in the studio, no overdubs or additional recordings were added. Producer Theo van Eenbergen excellently captured the band's sound that shows a flagrant disregard for any kind of sonic restrained. Hart Gore was the first collaboration of Gore and van Eenbergen who produced several albums of the band in the following years. The cover of the album shows a photograph of a raw pig's heart pierced by a samurai sword. The picture is a work of Dutch photographer Egon Notermans. Hart Gore consists of 10 extremely reduced, repetitive, rhythmical and riff-dominated songs. The tracks lack almost all melody but are interspersed by tempo and rhythm changes. Feedback and distortions replace harmonies and volume is an essential element of the music. Gore on their debut are violent, loud and dirty. They break metal down to its essence, its pulsating, vibrant heart that then lies before us naked, just like the pig's heart on the cover of the record. Although Hart Gore is an instrumental record, lyrics to songs are included. With the exception of their last studio album Mest 694‘3 and the compilation album Slow Death, this will be the case with all Gore albums. The controversial lyrics are no less radical and raw as the music of Gore. The vulgar outbreaks of violent images and obscenities give insight into the negative, pessimist world view of the band. The lyrics are signed with „Val Hard“ which is yet another pseudonym of Frey. Mean Man's Dream, the follow-up album, was recorded in Tango Studios in January 1987. Again the album recorded live in studio, produced by van Eenbergen and released on Eksakt Records. Mean Man's Dream is even more monotone, minimal, metric and metallic than Hart Gore was. There are no adornments on Mean Man's Dream, there are no charismatic reference points such as vocals or solos. There is only the naked, screaming riff and the mercilessly pounding rhythm in manic intensity. The iconic cover shows a crude butcher's knife on a scratched metal surface. The stark, direct photo, again taken by Notermans, visualizes perfectly the hard and cold aggression that fuels the music on the record. The album received predominantly positive reviews internationally, sold fairly well and is seen by many fans as the essential Gore record. In the summer Gore tours Europe with Henry Rollins who just had left Black Flag. Recordings made on this tour later appear on a Gore / Henry Rollins split LP. The Gore / Henry Rollins split LP is released in autumn 1987. It contains four live songs by Gore, which were recorded at a show at „De Bakkerij“ in Eindhoven. Three of the four songs are taken from the first two albums, but the song Arena is exclusively released this record. Gore / Henry Rollins Live is the last Gore record released by Eksakt Records. On October 27 GORE record the first of three Peel Sessions for British DJ legend John Peel. The session is aired by the BBC on November 4. The recordings for the first Peel Session are the last recordings made in the original line up of Frey / Lommen / de Swart. Pieter de Swart leaves the band shortly after. After de Swart had left the band, two new guitar players, Frank Stroobants (using the pseudonym Frankie Stroo) and Yussef Benli (using the pseudonym Joes Bentley), joined in. Gore was invited to play at the New Music Seminar in New York and so they did. It was there that they signed a contract with the bigger label Megadisc Records to release the next album. Wrede (The Cruel Peace) was recorded in August 1988 in at „As The Grass Is Two Asses High“ studios in Weesp, NL. It was produced by van Eenbergen and Steve Albini and released as a double album by Megadisc. Wrede was the last collaboration of Gore and Theo van Eenbergen, who would work closely with Henry Rollins in the following years. Under the pseudonym Theo van Rock he went on to produce all records of the Rollins Band until their disbandment in 2001. There are only 4 tracks on Wrede, one on each side of the double album. The epic compositions, running between 15 and 25 minutes, are more mellow, mature, melodic and differentiated than those of the earlier albums. The crystalline, sharp aggression gave way to a doomy atmosphere. Van Eenbergen and Albini provided the album with a sound, that almost seems orchestral. Wrede is a heavy, deep behemoth of an album and Gore reach their stylistic climax with it. Considered by many fans and critics to be Gore's opus magnum and the most influential album of the band, the monolithic, idiosyncratic album failed in achieving wider recognition, and the responses in listeners and critics fell short of expectations. During the summer, Gore toured Europe with Negazione from Italy. A second Peel Session was recorded on November 29, 1988. It contained two tracks from Wrede and was aired December 6. Gore officially disbanded in early 1989. Drummer Danny Arnold Lommen joined Caspar Brötzmann Massaker and stayed with them until they broke up in 1995. Lommen went on to work with Dee Dee Ramone in later years. Guitarist Frank Stroobants played in several bands after GORE and releases solo projects up until today. After a hiatus of two years, Frey brought Gore back to life with a new line up. With Johan van Reede (guitar) and Bardo Koolen (using the pen name Bardo Maria, drums) he re-established the band. The first recordings of that outfit were done on July 9. For the third Peel Session GORE recorded five songs from their next album. The session was broadcast in Peel's show on September 21, 1991. Lifelong Deadline, Gore's fourth studio album is recorded August / September 1992 and released by Armageddon Records that winter as a two-CD set. In contrast to previous albums all material was written between 1989 and 1992 by Rob Frey alone, and he also produced the album himself. The songs on Lifelong Deadline are more complex, composed and controlled than those on the earlier releases. The sound is clearer and cleaner. The