Hands of Goro Claw Their Way to the Edge of Heavy Metal On Self-Titled Debut (Early Album Stream)
Forged in the fires of weird riffs, friendship, and creativity without limit, San Francisco’s Hands of Goro was formed by members of The Lord Weird Slough Feg and Spirit Adrift to create heavy metal of the highest order. These heavy metal warriors- Tom Draper (guitars) and Adrian Maestas (bass, vocals)- spent years refining their craft, putting out an EP in 2018 and supporting a variety of legends in the Bay, and are now ready to debut their first studio album together, joined on drums by underground hero Avinash Mittur (Nite, Wretched Stench).
Hands of Goro is a band that screams individualism. They reject outside pressures: trends, record labels, and even recording engineers, with the entire thing being self-produced in-house. Years of experience with strange heavy metal and playing in bands collide here to form an album that, while certainly carrying a familiar edge (particularly for Slough Feg fans, who will recognize “Uncanny” from New Organon), still manages to stand out in the crowded contemporary heavy metal scene by sheer force of charisma and songwriting might. Each song is a nonstop journey, and though I suspect I won’t quite understand the concept of Goro the four-armed beast until I get a chance to sit down with the lyric sheet (and probably not even then, honestly), the sense of adventure that radiates from the individual songs tells a story of its own.
While there's a certain rocking edge that I always appreciate present throughout the entire album, there’s nothing so simple as a unified set of influences to point at to make neat comparisons to draw in new fans. Rambunctious punk, tough epicisms, and even thrash metal collide throughout the playtime, with stomping power chord riffs suddenly turning into tremolo picking the likes of which is rarely seen in this genre or more melodic sections being offset by off-kilter rhythms instead of going into a more traditional direction. The lead singing is provided by Maestas in a style that carries more can-do personality than Dickinson-esque acrobatics but is offset and complemented by backing vocals that add a bit more range to the album, with the high falsetto shrieks on “Demonizer” in particular coming to mind. Altogether, the impression of the album- tied together by Mittur’s raging drum performance- is one of a love for heavy metal so vast that it can’t be contained by just a handful of sounds, and that demands a wider net to properly allow Goro’s will to be released. As traditional as the genre they play in can be and as much as the influences call back to a bygone time, this isn’t your dad’s rock band: Hands of Goro are fired up and ready to destroy.
Stream the album in full below and read on for an interview with the band.
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How did Adrian and Tom originally meet, decide to form a band, and how did Avinash end up getting involved? The promotional material says that the band itself formed some four years before Avinash started drumming; during that time in between was there a functional lineup?
Tom Draper: Soon after moving to the Bay Area about ten years ago, I went to a Slough Feg show and punished Adrian at the merch table. I whored myself out as a guitar player should he ever need one for a future project, and a year or so later he emailed me saying he’d just accepted a slot at a small festival in SF and needed to put a band together at short notice - thus Hands of Goro was born. Over two practices we wrote and rehearsed a set of music, with four brand new original tunes and two covers. We did exactly one show with that first drummer before parting ways with him. After that we recruited a British drummer called Will Edmands who recorded our first EP with us and played a couple of local shows before very sadly passing away in 2017. That obviously took the wind out of our sails and combined with joining Carcass in 2018, I pretty much told Adrian I didn’t have the time or energy to keep the band going - I had to fully dedicate myself to practicing for and not blowing the Carcass gig! It wasn’t until mid-late 2020 when, desperate for human connection and some in-person rocking, Adrian and I decided to head to his downtown San Francisco rehearsal space and blow the dust off the Hands of Goro songs we’d written a few years earlier. Avinash was fearless enough to answer our call to come and jam even when the official advice was to stay at home and not socialize. Try playing double-kick drums for two hours wearing a mask, the man’s a machine! The chemistry was immediate and palpable, and we quickly set about writing more songs and recording everything we could play together.
Avinash Mittur: That first time jamming together with Tom and Adrian was the one and only time I played drums in a mask! Tom reached out to me about getting together with him and Adrian just for fun, I don’t think he had mentioned that they were trying to start up Hands of Goro again. He sent me the first EP and I tried learning a song or two just so I wouldn’t go in completely blind. From what I remember, the tunes I learned were “Prince of Shokan” and “End to End” and I remember Tom expressing some pleasant surprise that I actually came a little bit prepared for what was sold as a jam session! I even have a vague recollection of us working on an early version of what later became “21st Century Plague” that night. Adrian would give me great cues and ideas for drum beats, Tom could spin up riffs with no notice and we’d have a chunk of a song in no time. For many months we’d occasionally get together for fun and at some point in 2021, we decided to try recording a couple new songs that we had hashed out. That kicked us in the butt to meet a little more regularly and get comfortable with the new tunes. I couldn’t tell you when the name of the group chat changed from “Jamming Stuffs” to “Hands of Goro” but it all felt very organic and natural to keep moving forward with writing and recording.
What inner need does Hands of Goro serve all of you that your other bands do not, given that you’re all already in heavy metal bands?
Mittur: I have tons of fun with my other bands, but there’s a very special spontaneity and a carefree attitude that comes from playing with Tom and Adrian. It feels relaxed in a way that usually doesn’t happen just about any other active and working band that I’ve done. Not to mention, it’s the only project that I play drums in these days! I have a habit of taking myself and my bands a bit too seriously when things get busy, but both Adrian and Tom always find a way to make Goro a stress-free and low-pressure band. It’s a little corny, but jamming with the two of them really does remind me why I like playing music in the first place.
Draper: The other notable bands I’ve played with since moving to the States (Pounder, Spirit Adrift) are based elsewhere (at best a 4 hour drive away, at worst a 4 hour flight), so they’ve been very goal-focused - we get together when there’s a show or tour and that’s it. With Hands of Goro we all live within a 30-45 minute drive of each other and we hang out socially a lot, doing non-band stuff. We enjoy each others’ company and having a practice or recording session is as much about the hang as it is getting any music work done. It reminds me of the kinds of bands I was in when I was much younger, like a school or garage band mentality. Only we’ve got decades of experience behind us and we can actually play! Plus it’s one of very few bands I’ve ever been in where I’m the only guitarist, which means playing in a completely different way to all the other bands where there’s been another to share the spoils with!
Adrian Maestas: Goro drives us to create sonic torment to plunge Earthrealm into chaos and disorder! Looking at how things have developed the past couple of years, I would say we are doing his bidding quite well, however, we still have the rest of the planet to strike!
All of the members of Hands of Goro are very busy with a variety of notable bands; how do you prioritize this band, and make scheduling work?
Draper: I think there’s been an implicit understanding so far that our “main” bands take priority, although now Hands of Goro is becoming more of a tangible project, with an actual album existing that may begin to change! It was definitely challenging to get together to record the album, the entire process took about 18-24 months from start to finish and in reality we only got together about six or seven times in-person to work on it. We all have regular 40+ hour a week jobs as well as other bands, partners etc… so we’ll book our rehearsals weeks in advance. We’re fully respectful and supportive of each others’ musical pursuits, we’re all lifers and we all need to play!
Mittur: Tom hit the nail on the head with that one. Our schedules were so all-over-the-place throughout 2022 that it wasn’t always easy to get together to work on the album, but we made it happen and were always understanding of everyone else’s commitments. The way I saw it (and still see it), Hands of Goro doesn’t get in the way of anything else and I have so much fun jamming with these two that I’m always happy to find the space to show up and get loud. One thing that helps–and I don’t think I’ve experienced this with any other band–is that I never feel like I have to “do my homework” before coming to practice, unless I was learning a very old song. The arrangements have been memorable enough to where we can show up after not having played together for months, and tear through the tunes without having to jog our memory too much. It’s a subtle thing, but not needing to actively and regularly drill these songs saves me so much time that I can devote to my other bands.
Maestas: If someone told you that they would give you a free trip to Hawaii tomorrow, would you go? Even if you had to work? Responsibilities? Family? The answer is YES! When Goro calls, there is no decision to be made, by his hands we set out on the voyage to beyond what is already known.
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Why did you forego a traditional record label and decide to self-release your album?
Draper: We briefly talked about shopping the album around to labels but decided that we could finance the vinyl pressing and PR ourselves - ultimately for a band at our level I’m not sure what extra a record label could or would do for us. I guess we’ll find out if nobody buys it!
Mittur: It feels like we’re still surprising our friends in the metal world with this project, even though we’ve been playing locally for nearly two years now. Given that we had the album ready, I know I certainly didn’t want to wait for a label to take notice of us and release it on their schedule. At least to me, it made more sense to get the music out there and available sooner rather than later so folks could get a feel for what we’re about.
Maestas: I asked a lot of people at small to mid-size labels, not to name names, but nobody wanted to put it out. So we decided to use the BSP label, go guerilla style, so far underground that nobody knows about it. The first release under the BSP moniker was the “Laser Enforcer” 7” from Slough Feg back in 2013.
Adrian, “Uncanny” was originally released as a The Lord Weird Slough Feg song with you on lead vocals- the first Slough Feg song since Omar’s departure to not have Mike singing, I believe. Was it written even then with the intention of eventually being recorded for Hands of Goro? When was the decision to use it again made?
Maestas: Hah! There was another song I wrote for Slough Feg, “Tactical Air War” from the Animal Spirits album, that has Bob Wright from Brocas Helm singing! “Uncanny” was written way before the Slough Feg version was recorded. Probably somewhere around 2016. I wasn’t sure where it would wind up but it’s on the Hands of Goro EP that came out in 2017, a full two years before it came out on the Slough Feg record. I have lots of songs I’ve written that just don’t work for Slough Feg, but I knew that “Uncanny” would, and it morphed into the version that appears on the New Organon album after being wrung through the hands of Mike Scalzi!
Mittur: Adrian’s definitely the best guy to ask when it comes to the full history of “Uncanny,” but I can certainly offer my take on how it came to be recorded for the Hands of Goro full-length. I first heard “Uncanny” on the last Slough Feg album New Organon and I very much fell in love with its energy and the kind of whimsical journey it takes the listener on. So much so that I even learned to play it just for fun all the way back in 2019! And when Tom later sent me the old Hands of Goro EP with the true original version of “Uncanny” on there, I felt so thrilled that I could have the opportunity to jam it with him and Adrian. I’d ask them if we could play it nearly every time we’d get together. During our first recording session, we set about only wanting to lay down drums and scratch tracks for “Archduke of Fear” and “21st Century Plague”; the original plan was to just record a 7” single. We finished the session a bit earlier than expected and decided to rip through whatever songs we had left up our sleeves. I asked the guys if we could give “Uncanny” a go and we somehow nailed it in a single take.
Y’all have mentioned your debut EP a few times throughout your answers to these questions and all I can find online is a link to buy it secondhand. Obviously, the album is going to be a lot more available, with a Bandcamp page and the like; will the EP ever get similar treatment?
Draper: I think it'd be cool if the EP remains somewhat mysterious and a collector's item. We have a few physical CD copies remaining which I think might occasionally appear as a merch-table curiosity...maybe it could appear as bonus tracks on the 30 year anniversary edition of the album.
Maestas: I think we only pressed 200 or so of those on CD. I stopped selling them a couple of years ago when I realized I only had 2 left! Maybe one day, if there is demand, we can reissue on 10" vinyl or something.
There’s a wide variety of influences in your music, and “End to End” in particular strikes me as having quite a bit of thrash crunch to it. Are any particular sounds off limits? How is the decision about what’s a Hands of Goro riff made?
Draper: “End to End” was definitely born from me channeling Hetfield in our very first jam together, and we actually have an even thrashier song in the works; we've played it live once already and will most definitely be recording it. I don't think anything's off limits musically for Hands of Goro - which doesn't mean we're about to drop a Jazz-Funk record, but we're always happy to try any musical idea. The decision about what's a Hands of Goro riff is made all together - if it's a good riff that we all like, it's a Hands of Goro riff.
Mittur: I think Tom’s right on here. It’s really just about whether we like what we hear or not. Meaning, I doubt we’ll have any nu-groove breakdowns any time soon but who knows what could crop up. Tom alluded to the thrashier tune that we have up our sleeves - I even have a small Cannibal Corpse-style blastbeat section in there, and I never thought that I’d be pulling out one of those for Goro. If it makes sense and sounds rad, I’m certainly here for it.
Maestas: Nothing is off limits to Goro! He does what he pleases and we just follow along. When new riffs are sent from Outworld, we look at each other and if we all three dig it, then we move forward. We try not to overthink things in this group, as that will sometimes damage the initial spark of an idea.
Hands of Goro self-describes as the spearhead of the Third Wave of British Heavy Metal. In honor of that, to close out the interview I’d love a few favorites from each band member from the original New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement as well as maybe a couple other favorite historical movements from the genre’s history.
Draper: For me it doesn't get better than Angel Witch's first album. Obviously the Dianno Maiden records are fantastic, Diamond Head had their moments, and Def Leppard's first few records are phenomenal, especially when you consider how young they were. On the slightly more obscure side of things I love "Lady of Mars" by Dark Star, that's one of my favourite NWOBHM songs. I think it's awesome how much reverence there still is for what ultimately was a very short period of time in a very small geographical area. The economic and social circumstances in the UK at the time meant that the fusion of Heavy Metal and punk was in many ways inevitable, you can hear and feel it in the escapism of a lot of the lyrics. The DIY spirit and attitude of those bands and records endures to this day in the NWOTHM, and indeed the TWOBHM.
Mittur: The big one for me is Satan’s Court in the Act - I always thought Brian Ross had some of the best vocal melodies among his peers and the guitarwork on that record is truly some of the most ripping of the era. I’ll also join Tom in standing by Killers. Though I love Bruce’s time in Maiden, I have a soft spot for the kind of in-the-gutter vibe that Maiden nailed on that album. If we’re talking about other big historical movements in metal as a whole, I can point to the Swedish death metal thing in the early ‘90s. Dismember’s first album Like an Everflowing Stream remains a favorite of mine to this day and I think that album showed off a pretty unique level of ambition and maturity for that crowd whereas some of the other bands were going for a more primal approach. I’ve also got to tip my hat to Adrian and Slough Feg here. When the San Francisco Bay Area’s underground metal scene really started going off in the late ‘90s and early 2000s and so many bands were embracing black metal and a more DIY aesthetic, Slough Feg went and made an over-the-top sci-fi adventure in Traveller. Those songs and the production are still so unique even within their own catalog, and I think it’s a genuinely excellent achievement that’s up there with some of the best stuff that’s come out of the bay.
Maestas: The first two Maiden records of course, Sad Wings of Destiny, I like Wild Cat from Tygers of Pan Tang, does that count? Special moments for me include the day I met Mike Scalzi, he introduced me to so many NWOBHM bands that I had never heard of!
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Hands of Goro releases March 1st and can be preordered (digital and LP) via Bandcamp.
