Interview with Groza

Hello P.G. and thank you for this interview. Please give us a small you give us a brief history of Groza.

P.G.: Thanks for having me. I started GROZA back in 2016 as a one man project to have an outlet for all my more atmospheric, melodic black metal style writing, that didn’t fit the projects I was involved in back then. In 2018, I decided to make GROZA a full band and invited other members from the local scene. We then recorded / released our debut album “Unified In Void” in 2018 and our recent album “The Redemptive End” in 2021. And now, here we are.

Truth be told I have first know your name as MGLA tribute band and some horrible comments in the internet (not to mention in Metal Archives) but soon all these voices (at least the majority of) silenced in front of your music and its quality. How you would response to anyone continuing these bad comments about you? Generally speaking how do you react on bad critics?

P.G.: I can understand, where those comments come from. I started GROZA as a worship project, because I was (kinda still am) obsessed with Mgla’s Exercises in Futility album, back when it came out. I wanted to do something in the same vein, so the first record sounds very similar. Over time and with other members starting to contribute more to the writing etc., we have developed our sound and found other sounds that now also define, what GROZA sounds like.

About critics: I usually don’t care, everyone has their opinion, and that’s fine. But I choose, not to care most of the time. I just get bothered, when people accuse us of “jumping on the hype train”, because this type of music is very successful right now. That’s just wrong. We do it for the passion of music and art and not for money or fame, which are temporary. Everyone, who has seen us live will confirm.

Despite the obvious one Mgla which have been the band’s musical influences over the years?

P.G.: Too many to count. Here are some of my personal favorites right now: Harakiri For The Sky, Karg, Darkthrone, Misphyrming, Dödsrit… List goes on.

“The Redemptive End” was out about a year ago. Tell us about the feedback from both Press and audience and how do you feel that the compositions sound in live environment?

P.G.: The feedback was very good, we had a lot of good response to the record, both from fans and the media, which is always a bonus.
Regarding playing the stuff live: We try to get as close to the record as possible and had the live environment in mind when writing the songs in the first place. To me, GROZA is first and foremost a live band, so it made sense to cater the songs towards a sound, that we could fully reproduce in a live setting.

Would you change anything on “The Redemptive End”?

P.G.: No. Still 100% satisfied on how it turned out.

Would you say that your two albums “Unified In Void” (2018) and “The Redemptive End” (2021) has many differences and if yes, which are the main ones?

P.G.: I think, both share the same attitude and core sound, but on the new one, we expanded our sound a little more towards more Post BM type sound. More clean passages, more atmosphere. That’s the big difference in terms of the music for me.

Which are the things that intrigue you and give you inspiration both lyrically and musically speaking?

P.G.: It could be anything, really. Stuff you see happening in your everyday life, happenings in the world, personal stuff, a book you read, music you hear, film you see etc etc. Inspiration can really come from anywhere, it’s just a matter of capturing it, once it strikes.

Which is your creative process when composing music?

P.G.: It always starts with a riff or melody. We gather ideas together and then we mostly get into a room and see what fits together. Shift things around until it feels ready. The song will tell you, most of the time. So, a pretty straight forward process.

Could you imagine playing in a different style that Black Metal?

P.G.: Absolutely, I do it all the time for fun, but just not in an official band, because GROZA leaves no space for that right now.

Do you feel that black Metal isn’t as raw or as dangerous as it was in the early 90’s?

P.G.: I’m probably the wrong one to ask that question, since I wasn’t even born when the early 90s wave of bands hit. So, I only now about that time from what I read. Seemed more “dangerous” back then overall, but again, I wasn’t around back then, so I’d much rather not talked about stuff, I haven’t experienced myself.

What should we expect from your live performances here in Thessaloniki and Athens?

P.G.: Passion and darkness.

The ending is yours…Thanx for your time and see you in Thessaloniki!

P.G.: Thanks again for having me. Hails!