Gatta Morta has today released their new single titled ‘Black Hall’, from their new EP ‘Burn Witch Burn’, also released today via Amphetamine Reptile Records.
When a lineup includes members of the Melvins, Butthole Surfers, Big Business, and Mr. Phylzzz, expectations naturally inflate into impossible territory. Gatta Morta responds by ignoring every one of those expectations and stomping straight into its own beautifully warped universe. ‘Black Hall’ feels less like a calculated supergroup debut and more like four lifelong troublemakers accidentally discovering the exact frequency needed to rattle loose every screw in the room. That kind of chemistry cannot be manufactured and thankfully nobody involved appears interested in trying.
‘Black Hall’ is built on riffs that lumber with the confidence of something that has already accepted it will crush whatever stands in front of it. Buzz Osborne’s unmistakable guitar work collides with JD Pinkus’ wonderfully unhinged low end while Coady Willis keeps everything moving with the controlled violence that has become one of his trademarks. Clinton Jacob slips into the madness without sounding like the new guy trying to keep up. Instead, he helps push the song into stranger and more unpredictable territory until the whole thing starts feeling gloriously unstable.
Any listener hoping for a nostalgic greatest hits package assembled from everyone’s previous bands is going to have a rough day. Gatta Morta borrows attitudes rather than formulas. Psychedelic textures drift through walls of distortion without turning into aimless jam sessions. Every weird left turn serves the song instead of becoming an excuse to congratulate themselves for being eccentric. That alone deserves applause in a genre where plenty of veteran musicians mistake randomness for innovation.
Production keeps every ugly little detail intact. Nothing feels polished enough to sand away the grime and nothing sounds sloppy enough to fall apart. ‘Black Hall’ thrives inside that sweet spot where heaviness becomes hypnotic and chaos becomes strangely addictive. Each repeat listen reveals another buried guitar scrape, another unsettling vocal nuance, or another rhythmic shift that somehow escaped notice the first time around. It is the musical equivalent of discovering fresh graffiti on the same alley wall every morning.
As the opening statement from the new EP Burn Witch Burn, released today, ‘Black Hall’ does exactly what a debut single should do. It refuses to play it safe while making an irresistible argument that this project deserves far more than a curiosity listen because of the names involved. Supergroups often arrive carrying enough baggage to fill a tour bus. Gatta Morta shows up carrying a flamethrower instead. Long may they keep setting expectations on fire.
Featured image by Keturah Bishop.
About Gatta Morta
Buzz Osborne didn’t need another band. JD Pinkus didn’t need another band. Coady Willis didn’t need another band. Together with Clinton Jacob, they started one anyway. Meet Gatta Morta.
“It’s always a good time for the world to embrace a new heavy/weird band,” Osborne says. “I had the idea for Gatta Morta while touring last fall. I realized I needed to start a band with these three. Seemed like a no brainer. Solidly weird rock music that needs to happen.”
Butthole Surfers bassist Pinkus agrees: “It’s been way too long since I got to write a heavy album from scratch with such high caliber players with such complimentary styles… and we’re just cat scratching the surface of what we got goin’ on!”
Rounding out Gatta Morta is Clinton Jacob, the creative force behind Chicago’s weirdo, pop-noise rock duo Mr. Phylzzz. “I just had this feeling that one day we would work together. I became friends with Buzz over the past few years doing shows together and having him play guitar on a Mr. Phylzzz song. When I was asked to be a part of Gatta Morta, I was speechless, but I was 100% ready for it.”
‘Burn Witch Burn’ lurches between thick, riff-driven heaviness and warped, psychedelic passages, with Osborne, Pinkus, Willis, and Jacob creating music that’s simultaneously reminiscent of their previous work and entirely new.
‘Burn Witch Burn’ Tracklist
- Taco Bellboy
- Victims of the Universe
- Black Hall
- Clear Smoke
LINKS:
https://gattamortaband.com
https://instagram.com/GattaMortaBand
https://facebook.com/GattaMortaBand
https://tikTok.com/@Gattamorta.band