(In February the French death metal band Horoh released their second album on Crypt of Dr. Gore — reviewed here by our contributor Zoltar — and today we have Comrade Aleks‘ interview with this horror-loving band’s two veteran members.)
French death-metal duo Horoh consists of Sébastien (vocals) and J. (all instruments). Both men live in different parts of France, so I doubt that Horoh will outgrow its status of a studio project. And yet the fresh Horde of Horror is their new album released only two years after the debut Aberration. Crypt of Dr. Gore released this 39-minute-long knot of gore, death, and unspeakable horrors in a form of quite old fashioned death metal.
Sébastien and J. spent many years performing different kinds of metal, so… an old horse doesn’t spoil a furrow… or how do you pronounce that? However, here we have a quite lively and fun conversation with both men. Hi there!
******
Hi there! How are you? What’s going on in Horoh’s lair?
S: Hey buddy. Well, we just released the album and we’re still on the promotional phase and still a bit in awe after all the efforts we put into this release. So far the feedback we get from the album is truly amazing. I really wasn’t expecting that.
J: Hi sir, as Seb has just said, Horde of Horror has been unleashed a few weeks ago, and it was a long way to get there. This one was much heavier to produce than Aberration. And yeah, people seem to be enjoying it… that’s pretty cool!
Crypt of Dr. Gore released your second album Horde of Horror on the 14th of February. What kind of opportunities do you have to promote it?
S: Crypt of Dr Gore already released Horoh’s first album Aberration in December 2023. This album almost was the starting point to the whole label part, Crypt originally being a fanzine. Matt (doc Gore) wanted to try to build a small label from scratch. And as we’re friends and I’ve been collaborating with the zine for some years, he asked me for help… and now we kinda “co-manage” the label. So the whole thing really is DIY. We get in touch with magazines, radios, webzines, and so on. Some already know our previous releases. And we try to broaden our pool so that we can promote our albums the best way possible. Very hard task. Very time-demanding and frustrating.
J: We count essentially on underground spirit and collaboration to promote the new album. We’re not using any PR agency or sponsoring to enlighten the release. Indeed it’s not always easy nowadays, there is a ton of stuff from all around the world, and actors who gently accept to review and spend time on our sound are really great people, because many bands are asking for promo or other things like that (I think you’re well placed to know it haha)
What was the most frustrating part in your DIY promotion? A lack of feedback?
S.: DIY promotion is an endless debate. Many things count. Your network, your attitude, the time people can spend and allow to you, so yes haha it’s a bit like if you’re looking for a job. Many demands, and sometimes few answers. Also I’m convinced of one thing: Making spam bombing is certainly not the way to proceed. You have to take time and place yourself like if you were the person in front of you. Personally, if someone tried to get in touch with me without any specific interest in my work, just asking like 100 times in his day, he’ll go to the trash. Globally, since HOROH exists, it’s fine. Can’t complain…
What about playing live, as there are only you two in the band?
S: We’ve been asked this… nothing is planned for the moment. We sure could find some friends to build a real live band. But so far we don’t have any real opportunity. And it would be quite a task to put this up, to be honest. But who knows… if we have a nice opportunity… I’m sure our tracks would break some necks if performed live.
J: Playing live would be great but there are many aspects to manage and… first, the distance is the major difficulty. Then, I’m involved in two other projects with people and now we’re starting to play live (HORION, blackened death, and Marie Bird, screamo). So… hard to imagine a positive way actually. I have to focus and prioritize those bands at the moment. Horoh, like Tattva, are originally one-man band projects and I create and publish stuff when I’m free.
Don’t you have an ambition to put more efforts into Horoh? Would it be worth it?
J.: HOROH is born from my passion for OSDM and death music. The first purpose was for myself, in my free time, so actually, I’m good with that. I do it when I can and also when I want.
Like I said previously, I prioritize bands where I play with my buddies and where we do live shows. Added efforts like better production could be an opportunity, but it’s not the original idea and start of this project. If I had to think about an ambition, it would be something like a concept album with new components, making it sound different (like the bands Ulcerate, Convulsing, Spectral Voice..)
S: My only ambition with HOROH is to play the ugly death metal I love. I don’t want it to become cleaner or more tech. Maybe delve deeper into horrific atmospheres. Add some more samples and moods. Horoh has to be that horror-laden death metal beast.
Maybe an ambition would be to have some guests we love on some songs. Or record a split with some other great band….
Sébastien, according to Metal-Archives, you took part in some bands in the mid-’90s and later, but it looks like you didn’t linger long with them. How would you sum up your previous experience in the metal underground?
I started in the late ’80s with some friends but things became a bit more serious a bit later after I met Fred. That’s when I entered university in the very early ’90s. Fred told me he had a band and they were trying to play some brutal death metal like Pestilence or Cannibal Corpse and Deicide. When they fired their vocalist, I auditioned and got the place. That band was Inhumate and 35 years later they are still there and became quite a cult. I was there for the very first gigs and recorded the first demo tape Abstract Suffering.
I left the band in 1994. I was young and maybe not dedicated enough… anyways. I joined or formed some bands in the ’90s/early 2000s. Kromlek, Cerebral Commotion, Unformed were the bands that have had some releases and some live appearances. I tend to get bored quite fast with things and I can be quite tyrannical sometimes. So when things don’t go my way… I leave hahahaha.
Never thought I’d start again but in 2018 I joined Beyond the Void. We did some gigs and released an Ep Ex Nihilo Nihil. But then came COVID and the tyrant in me decided I had to drop the band.
I’ve always more or less been in the UG since the early ’90s. A friend and I had a fanzine in the early 2000s (zinophrenia).
Jérémy, what about you?
J.: On my side, I started to play music in bands 27 years ago, basically in local bands where we were playing a weird metal fusion influenced by Nasum, Cephalic Carnage, and Floridian DM bands… and then my first serious project was MUTA, a Basque band, in the vein of ISIS, Dillinger Escape Plan, as front singer and not guitarist anymore. We made great shows and live experiences. After too many experiences to talk about, but the main point has been the creation of Tattva, my one-man band project (black metal). This one has opened me a lot of gates and great collaborations (playing as studio guitarist for Some Dead Bodies – Texas OSDM). Now I’m in two bands with people, and Tattva and Horoh are side projects.
Both of you live in different regions of France, so how did you manage to start Horoh?
S: In 2023 Jérémy asked me if I would be interested in doing the artwork for HOROH’s first album. He knew my drawings from the “crypt of dr gore” fanzine. I asked to listen to the music first. And I fell in love. Exactly the primitive kind of death metal I always wanted to play. I featured on a song on this album also. And as Jérémy and I got along really well, it all became very natural that I became an official member of the project.
Horoh released his first EP on tape in 2021. Then Aberration in December 2023. And now Horde of Horror in February 2025.
Jérémy recorded all instruments for Horde of Horror, but correct me if I’m wrong. How do you share your contributions to the songs?
S: Jérémy first recorded some roughs. Before that we talked quite a bit about our different influences. Jérémy is a huge Cannibal Corpse and Dead Congregation fan for example. I’m more into Autopsy, Blood, Impetigo stuff.
With that in mind Jérémy produced all the songs on the album. I also suggested it would be a great idea to record a cover song for our first real collaboration. And thus I made him discover the almighty Blood. I’m really happy and proud of our cover of “Cannibal Ritual”.
It’s hard to be original in the genre you play. What stands out about Horde of Horror from other albums of this kind?
S: I would say “honesty” and roughness maybe. In Horoh it’s all about being efficient. Great riffs, neck-breaking parts, and a creepy mood. Nothing about being technical or ultra well-produced. We play the music we love to listen to. Some parts are fast like early Cannibal or Sinister. Some parts are creepy like Autopsy. And I really wanted to be versatile on the vocals. I love being very deep but I also enjoy a lot of anguished screeches. All for the atmosphere.
J: I think that Horoh music can’t replace or re-create the genre. But for example, I’m not a gatekeeper and you’ll maybe be surprised, but many bands people quote after listening to Horoh are often unknown to me. I don’t follow the trend; I don’t dig early old school stuff because the sound doesn’t talk to me. I produce songs I would like to hear, with my pillars of reference (essentially Cannibal Corpse, Malevolent Creation, Monstrosity…and a bit of the Greek scene with Ectoplasma, Dead Congregation), but don’t ask me if you want to discover lot of bands…!
What was the most difficult for you from the technical point of view during work over this material? Was it a challenge at all?
S: The most difficult part was maybe letting it get loose. Everything I did was really instinctive. Jules, who recorded my vocals, really pushed in that sense. He gave me great advice. And then the visual point was a bit challenging. I really wanted to capture the atmosphere of the old horror flicks Jérémy and I really love.
Jérémy, how did you get that sound in the end? What are the criteria of this sound?
J: On my side, I can’t tell you the number of hours I’ve spent on recording and mixing until the sound was exactly like if we’ve worked in the ’90s… The goal was create this vibe and feeling, and not to get a modern sound, that would have been a huge mistake for this release. I work everything in DIY, except for the mastering done by someone else this time.
I’ve tried a lot of combinations with guitars, mixing analog sound and amps, and numeric too, to get a specific razor effect on the final sound, not FAT guitars like we can ear nowadays.
So you try, you fail, you try again, and finally, after the 12th version, yeah, that’s Good ! haha
You use a few samples from horror movies throughout the album — can you name them? Why did you choose these particular ones?
S: Jérémy really let me do everything on that matter. Except for the song he’s doing vocals on (“Who Goes There”) where he managed everything. So I decided what the song’s subject would be according to a movie or a book. Then we tried to find samples that could fit. Samples are taken from Hellraiser, Event Horizon, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, And I’m Pursued by Ghosts, Frankenstein, The Thing… We chose those samples obviously because we really dig those movies. Most of them are real masterpieces.
Confirmed! They are indeed! Can you recommend any new movies? I saw a few really average ones in 2024, but Longlegs and Late Night with the Devil are killer things.
J : On my side, recent movies I’ve enjoyed are Don’t Breathe, Atticus Project, The Void, The Ritual, Grave Encounters, Lights On, all the Sharknado series (yeah I know it’s bad haha). Zombie movies are not great to me, so don’t ask me to make any recommendations haha
I’ve still not see Longlegs, but yeah people said it’s a good one… so… I’ll check it for sure !
S: I don’t really watch much recent horror flicks. I enjoyed Smile or Terrifier 1. I’ve not enjoyed Longlegs very much to be honest. Last noteworthy horror movies are mostly from the early 2000s I think. Loved Wolf Creeks, Eden Lake, Creep or some Asian horror/ thrillers. Like the Grudge or The Chaser.
Well, what about the lyrics? What drove you to write and growl things like those in Horde of Horror? Do you search for details of these horrors or something? How does this experience work for you?
S: In fact… there are no lyrics. From time to time there are some words or sentences used but no real lyrics. That doesn’t mean I didn’t think about the subjects of the songs. I love using some classic horror themes in order to express something like a point of view or a real reflection on a matter. For example, “Bestial Supremacy”, which I wanted as a thinking on duality in the human being. Man in a social environment versus its more savage and instinctive nature.
You recorded the album with some guests, isn’t that right? What led you to this collaboration?
S: Yes, we invited Martin Witchskinner on one song. I’ve been a fan of Blood for more than 30 years. And Martin became a friend. And as we recorded a cover of “Cannibal Ritual” it was all natural to ask Martin for a feat. Which he gladly accepted. Martin really has been a great vocal influence for me. So, I was really more than happy to have him do this feat and support us.
Martin and the guys of Blood are real warriors of the underground scene and examples for everyone in that scene.
J: Personally, I have to admit that this collaboration with Martin and the cover of Blood is a perfect example of what I’ve said just above. Seb had asked me for that, and usually I don’t like covers and I don’t do it. I prefer original stuff. But this one was in the theme, so…let’s go! And… I discovered Blood at the same time, it was unknown to me! No tab or something else for this cover, only my ears and brain… and so finally, it seems to be OK!!
What are your plans for the rest of 2025 regarding Horoh?
S: Promoting Horde of Horror more and more. We really believe in this album. And I really think people need to give it a chance. Maybe not the best album in the genre ever. But it definitely is an honest offering to the musical genre we most love. We also plan on a new release still on Crypt of Dr Gore records. Won’t be a full-length of course. And we already have something in mind for next year also hahahaha.
Thanks a lot for those great questions and the opportunity to help us spread our sickness. People interested can find us on Facebook and Instagram. And of course, you can find our label and fanzine on those same platforms. Support your scenes. They need it and no doubt they deserve it.
J: As I don’t have all the time I would like to get… I’m usually creating and recording stuff in advance for Horoh, so yeah, we got some new songs in the box (not finished, but all recorded by my side). Then, the goal is to use it when we get an opportunity. Actually, Horde of Horror is for sure the priority, and it’s going well, we’re happy with that!
Thank you for your time and interest, that’s deeply appreciated!!
https://m.facebook.com/Horohdm/
https://cryptofdrgore.bandcamp.com/album/horde-of-horror