Hailing from Graz, Austria, GUYOÐ have forged a dark and immersive blend of death, doom, and black metal. We spoke with the band about their oceanic themes, live rituals, debut album, and latest EP Death Throes Of A Drowning God.
1. GUYOÐ’s
music is deeply inspired by the ocean, water, and the “great unknown.” What
drew you to these themes, and how do they shape both your songwriting and your
overall identity as a band?
In the
early days of the band, we experienced a sense of being overwhelmed by a creepy
feeling of uneasiness when playing our music. At some point we started
discussing that and we associated this to a feeling of being caught in a storm
on high sea, or being trapped below vast amounts of water. Ultimately, we
decided to make this an overarching theme of our music and lyrics. Therefore,
what we create has become an unholy worship to the creative and destructive
forces of the seas, and mankind’s futility in comparison thereto.
2. Your
live performances are described as ceremonies or immersive rituals rather than
conventional shows. How do you consciously translate your musical and lyrical
concepts into this intense live experience?
In simple
words by living the music. All of us connect personal emotions to the music we
play and the lyrics we scream out into the void. As described before, we have
had strong sensations about our creations from the very start and this creates
a certain headspace when we play live, which then again translates into our
intense live performance. In order to set the scene, we also use incense and
atmospheric samples between songs to enhance the experience for us and our
audience.
3. Founded
in Graz in 2020, GUYOÐ quickly developed a sound blending death metal with
strong doom and black metal elements. How did this stylistic balance evolve,
and was it something you envisioned from the very beginning?
In parts it
is what was envisioned from the beginning. Dohrn, our guitarist, writes the
music and has had a rather clear vision of where to take the band musically
from the start. Over the years we refined our style collectively, which brought
us to where we are today.
4. Heart
Of Thy Abyss spans over an hour and feels vast, oppressive, and deliberate.
What were the main challenges and intentions behind crafting such a long-form
debut album?
We
basically just had the material and wanted to put it all out there. Working on
it was a monolithic task though. We do almost all of production work on our
own, which can become overwhelming at times. Back in the day, we had Thomas
Taube from Germany mix the album, but nowadays all of that is done by band
members, too.
5. The
single “Watcher In The Dark” served as many listeners’ first encounter with
GUYOÐ. Looking back, do you feel it accurately represents the core of the band,
or was it just one fragment of a much larger vision?
Definitely
the latter. “Watcher” was the youngest song on our debut album. It felt
freshest to us and we found it would be a proper introduction to listeners into
our realms. If you listen to the rest of the album, or our newer material
though, you will hear that these sonic realms of us are bigger than just a
single song can demonstrate.
6. With
the release of your 2026 EP Death Throes Of A Drowning God, you’ve described
this as “opening a new chapter.” In what ways does this EP expand or challenge
your established sound?
The EP
feels like a natural progression from “Heart Of Thy Abyss”. The basics of our
style (disharmonic guitars, switching between doomy slow parts and fast
black/death parts, an amalgamation of atmospheric and “heavy” parts) are still
there, but we managed to create something new and fresh with the newer
material. The song structures feel more condensed, but also more frantic and
chaotic. Stylistically, one could say that the proportion of black metal
influence has become bigger.
7. The
title Death Throes Of A Drowning God is striking and evocative. Can you share
the concept or narrative behind it, and how it connects to your ongoing
exploration of water and destruction?
We expanded
a few ideas from the lyrics of “Behind Walls Of Ice”, and especially “Hestia
Drowning” and came up with that image of a drowning deity. Our lyrics often
deal with the downfall of societies and human ideals through the forces of
nature. And a god (which is basically just a human concept) being annihilated
by the almighty waters just felt very fitting. We worked together with Serbian
artist Khaos Dikator again and he perfectly set this idea into scene for us.
8. You’ve
shared stages with bands ranging from VADER and HAVOK to UADA and DESTRÖYER
666. How have these diverse touring experiences influenced GUYOÐ, either
musically or philosophically?
I wouldn't
say these experiences have influenced us more than the music we listen to and
the struggles in our daily lifes. Of Course we are somehow influenced by
experiences we live through but I don't think one can point out particularly
these influences in any part of our creation.
9. Press
reactions to Heart Of Thy Abyss have varied widely, from perfect scores to more
critical takes. How do you personally engage with critical reception, and does
it affect your creative process at all?
Everyone's
allowed to have an own opinion (at least in most parts of the world) and of
course we respect those opinions and won't take them personally or let us be
demotivated by a bad note in a review. However if anyone has something
constructive to say, we'll listened to that too.
10. Looking
ahead beyond the EP, where do you see GUYOÐ heading next—both musically and
conceptually—as you continue to descend deeper into your abyss?
Stylistically,
we will continue the path we started six years ago. Very soon, new
material will be out, stay aware…
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