GAWTHROP
Gawthrop first emerged in Seoul, South Korea, in 2019 with a slow-crawling monolithic sludge/death/doom nightmare of unseen wretchedness and heaviness. Using crushing levels of amplified distortion and feedback, stacks of amplifiers lined up to flatten crowds, humongous downtuned guitar riffs chained together to deliver absolute death, telluric drums, violent vocals, and a general mood and atmosphere of total nihilism and abjection, Gawthrop have emerged from the most unlikely of places and in the most unlikely of times to restore the subgenera of sludge/doom to its most threatening and imposing splendor. Quite mysterious in their pre-documented whereabouts, the band first revealed its existence with a debut 2019 self-released and self-titled demo tape - a staggering, imposing example of contemporary nihilistic crushing sludge especially reminiscent of the glory of 90’s early-to-mid career Corrupted (or of their “splits era”). This demo presented itself instantly enigmatic and unique in its surprising feat of having restored sludge/doom to its long-lost credibility. A crediblity originally established in the 90’s and 00’s by a string of now legendary but mostly defunct Japanese, US, and UK bands like Corrupted, Su19b, Coffins, Noothgrush, Dystopia, Burning Witch, Thor’s Hammer, Buzzov-en, Moss, and Iron Monkey, but since then mostly lost or just bogged down by years of stagnation. It was neither a foreseeable, nor a likely event, that the style would experience such a rebirth and a restoration to its original greatness in a far-east asian country like South Korea, and in a year like 2019, but Gawthrop’s debut demo accomplished just that, with the feat inevitably sending waves of awe across an astonished underground, and gaining instant interest from Sentient Ruin, which began following the band’s progress closely from then on. In reality Gawthrop’s origins and roots stretch far before 2019, and have a direct connection to South Korea’s earlier extreme metal scene from the early 00’s. Founding gutiarist/vocalist Hyunwoong is a veteran in Seoul’s extreme music underground, having first created the depressive black metal project 폐허 (Pyha) in 2002 as a teenager (which eventually received several releases back then with legendary US label tUMULt), and later having formed the now defunct sludge/death-doom band Gonguri in 2014 (among other projects), an early precursor to Gawthrop. With Gonguri dissolved, Hyunwoong carried forth, and teamed up with fellow Korean bassist Sunggun and Chinese transplant drummer Owen to lay the foundation of Gawthrop. This lineup proved implacable, taking the sludgy sewer-rotted death of Gonguri to inevitable conclusions, and eventually birthing the now classic aforementioned 2019 debut demo tape, at first self-released, but later reissued on cassette by local South Korean label MYDY Records, and later on CD by Irish label Cursed Monk Records. A split 7” with Drug Noose surfaced in 2020, followed by the three-way “Far East Nihilism Front” split CD with Sithter and Misersplit in 2021, with both releases displaying a more experimental and abstract sound, until a complete return to form was redelivered with the tectonic, earth-shaking heaviness of the second demo tape, 2022’ “Jumbo”, released again by Cursed Monk Records on cassette, as well as by Taiwanese label Bad Moon Rising on CD. This second demo and its implausible heaviness was the turning point which began to make Gawthrop’s name circulate beyond their home country and the far East. Sentient Ruin then made contact with the band and stepped in to reissue both the demos as the 2023 12” vinyl compilation titled “Deterioration”, containing the first demo on side A and the “Jumbo” demo on side B, and with all tracks remastered by Will Killingsworth at Dead Air Studios. By this time Gawthrop had turned into a quartet with the addition of bassist Minhwi (a well known South Korean folk artist), which prompted Sunggun to move to second guitar, further augmenting the band’s already monumental sound and ghastly heaviness, and preparing the ground for the creation of the band’s immense and crushing debut full-length album “Kuboa” (released worldwide in 2025 by Sentient Ruin). Shortly after “Kuboa” was completed, the COVID pandemic forced drummer Owen to return to China, and despite some sporadic trips to reunite with his band mates in Seoul for select shows, Gawthrop has since then functioned as a remote four piece, with all members still officially in the band, but with Minhwi on bass, Sunggun on guitar, and Hyunwoong filling in on drums in Owen’s absence and with the band functioning as a de-facto power trio formation for the band’s local shows when Owen can not join.