The name of this project was originally supposed to be Crowned Underhound. I even drew a logo for it. One demo was recorded under that name and the material eventually ended up on Your Spine Is a Pierced Snake, the final Vengeful Semblance album. Vengeful Semblance did not become Grallochery. They are two completely separate ideas.
Grallochery as a word is a mixture of Scottish and English. It means gutting a deer. I came up with that name in late 2022 as I was entertaining the idea of having a different kind of black metal project.
I love programming all kinds of drums and some of my private demos have a drum kit in the mix, even though the final version almost never has that. I have never had a physical drum kit, so programming is my way of coming up with rhythms and beats. I've been a hand drummer my whole life.
These albums are a response to those who think black metal is just a blast of heinous crap and the dumbest cliches. I started listening to this type of music in the mid-90s and I've heard enough hyperspeed nonsense, trust me.
Avoiding fast blast beats, religious rhetoric and black thrash, I wrote two albums back to back in November 2023. Reign in Blood is one of my favourite albums, but I'm not interested in recording thrash metal. The sharp guitar tone reminds me of Slayer, Celtic Frost and Darkthrone.
I was supposed to record a cover of Fainted Eyes by Celtic Frost for Vengeful Semblance, but it never happened. Bathory's Son of the Damned was more appropriate for Grallochery.
The vocals were inspired by The Evil Dead. I wanted to achieve that without using a harmonizer. Just my own voice, no doubled tracks or effects.
Grallochery is about the intensity of pre-93 black metal. Crowned Underhound was my 14th black metal album and I'm not sure if I will ever make more.
