GOOT – The Toll Remains the Same
Photo: Erika Wahlberg
Melancholy, Magnificence, and the Meaning of the Toll We All Pay
“Icarus has not fallen yet, for he is me.” —GOOT, The Toll Remains the Same
There’s something about GOOT’s latest release that feels like a survivor’s diary carved into steel. It doesn’t scream for attention with gimmicks or hollow posturing—it earns it through artistry, emotional honesty, and depth of purpose. We live in a world increasingly flattened by streaming statistics and AI-generated facsimiles of art, and The Toll Remains the Same brings us back to something sacred: human conviction.
With David Reece (ex-Accept, Bangalore Choir) fronting the vocals and contributions from Wayne Dorman of Onslaught, GOOT’s 2025 extended album blurs the line between full-length and concept record. It’s a body of work rooted in hard rock and heavy metal tradition, yet bravely willing to explore alternative mixes, ambient versions, orchestral experiments, and even club-influenced remixes. At 72 minutes, it dares to stretch time the way older albums used to—each track inviting listeners to sit down, listen, and feel something that lasts longer than a scroll.
The album is an evolution from 2024’s Weight of Days, carrying forward its conceptual weight but leaning more into classic metal hooks, rich dynamics, and an expanded universe of sonic experimentation. It sounds timeless, yet unafraid of modern textures—proving that reflection and reinvention can walk hand in hand.
GOOT, a project born of international collaboration, is shepherded by Dutch writer and music journalist Randy Gerritse and shaped sonically by Theodor Borovski of Slaughtered Studio. In this exclusive interview, one of the core members—who answered not with flashy PR gloss, but with sincerity and artistic introspection—explores the making of The Toll Remains the Same, track selection, working with legends, and the irretrievable loss of reverence in the modern music landscape.
Below is our full, unedited conversation.
Elevar Magazine: How did you decide which tracks would be remixes, orchestral/ambient versions, or new originals?
GOOT:
While working on an album, we, like any other band, accumulate additional material—instrumental versions, all sorts of demos, trial studio mixes, some artifacts and alternative versions. Of course, fans are most interested in getting an unreleased song, but in the end there aren’t that many of these finished songs.
Remixes are a separate story. They usually appear at the last moment, when you want more B-sides or bonuses, and when you want to look at your own music from a different angle. In my opinion, a quality remix provides just this opportunity. I understand that this is not exactly “metal,” but I don’t consider myself an irreconcilable metalhead—I listen to and record different music.
However, we don’t concentrate on remixes much and almost always turn to the same DJ from St. Petersburg for such material. I agree that remixes and other alternative versions of songs are not quite suitable for a full-length metal album. That's why we chose a hybrid version for this, in the form of an extended EP, The Toll Remains The Same. Also, by releasing the remixes on CD, I would like to not only give them a physical form, but also to show respect to the person who created them and collaborated with us. I’m old-fashioned in this sense and I feel calmer when my songs also exist on CD or vinyl.
Elevar Magazine: David Reece’s vocals add such a charismatic, classic rock edge. What’s it like writing music around such a distinctive voice?
GOOT:
I'll be honest—working with David is a whole other creative level. David Reece is a criminally underrated vocalist of world renown. When you get a vocal demo from him, your own song is transported to another artistic dimension. It's a really cool feeling. David is able to improve your material or present an unexpected vision for it.
I don’t write songs for a specific project, vocals, album, or concept. I just record dozens and hundreds of demos first, from which later, as they mature into full-fledged songs, we choose something for this or that project or release. When choosing songs for David, we want to not only present our most striking tracks, but also place his vocals in a new environment, perhaps sometimes not quite familiar or suitable for his timbre or dynamics. But I like such experiments.
GOOT is a fairly democratic project. All of its musicians, including guests, have complete freedom when recording new songs. The dots over the “i’s” are usually placed already at the mixing stage. Only then does it become clear how creatively everyone worked, and whether it suits a particular song.
Elevar Magazine: You’ve also got Wayne Dorman (Onslaught) involved—how did that collaboration come about, and what did he bring to the creative process?
GOOT:
Wayne is one of those creative people I would like to continue recording with. Easy to talk to, positive, a first-class musician with great playing technique and a creative approach to the material.
We started collaborating with Wayne about two years ago, when we were recording the Dissector album Vita Est Visio Nocturna Mortis (2024). Like all our guest musicians, Wayne had complete freedom of action, and he used it perfectly. He demonstrated both brilliant technique and a love for metal, nurtured by classical music, in two singles “Broken Axis” and “Charon Waits.”
He also showed himself brilliantly on the GOOT albums Weight Of Days and The Toll Remains The Same. With him, our tracks sounded more solid. By the way, we continue to work together with David and Wayne, and I’m personally very happy that such experienced musicians like our material.
Artwork: Pablo the Elephant
Elevar Magazine: Theodor Borovski has been a constant presence behind the console for GOOT. What does he understand about your sound that makes him essential?
GOOT:
Yes, Theodor has been collaborating with GOOT since the very beginning, since 2017—sometimes as a drummer, sometimes as a programmer, but most often as the creator of our sound. We started working together even earlier, since 2015, in projects like THE LUST and Dissector.
He’s a multitasking and talented guy. A sought-after sound engineer with a large geography of clients and a strong portfolio. So, it can be difficult to book him—but we try! We are happy with our collaboration. He just feels what a particular album needs, carefully experiments with sound, and squeezes the maximum quality out of each track. It’s easy to discuss ideas with him. He often suggests improvements mid-mix. It's not just professional—it’s human.
Elevar Magazine: GOOT seems to embrace the album as a form—extended, conceptual, and deep. In the era of singles and short-form releases, why is this still important to you?
GOOT:
I consider myself a collector in some way. I collect CDs and vinyl. Of course, metal is album music—often telling big stories, requiring more thoughtful consumption and emotional involvement.
Fortunately, I lived in the times when music was truly appreciated. I remember how cool it was to have Japanese or British imports. Every bonus track or rarity was worth its weight in gold. Now there’s no trace of that. The internet has killed the magic. And artificial intelligence, generating pictures, voices, and songs, continues the process of destroying art.
Final Thoughts
The Toll Remains the Same stands strong as a reflection on the shared cost of being alive, of loving, of fighting for meaning. GOOT, in all its layers of sonic richness and philosophical reflection, reminds us what happens when music is made with intention. Whether bleeding through the nostalgic ache of “Holes in Me” or roaring through the grandeur of “Fail Better,” this is an album built to be felt inherently.
And perhaps that’s the final toll of artistry: vulnerability, creative risk, and the courage to reach for timelessness in an age of instant everything.
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Courtesy of The Metallist PR
