The Russian Gothic Metal band Goot was founded in Saint Petersburg (Russia) in 2017. And they are extremely productive. The list of releases on Encyclopaedia Metallum is long. I count five albums, seven EPs and an almost unmanageable number of singles. However, the band’s latest output, ‘The Toll Remains The Same’ from May 2025, is listed there as a compilation. The letter accompanying the album describes it as an album, while the press release refers to it as an extended EP. Looking at the track list, it seems more like an EP with a lot of bonus tracks. But the standout feature of this EP is guest singer David Reece (ex-Accept, Bangalore Choir, ex-Bonfire, ex-Sainted Sinners and many, many others). There’s a lot to talk about here. My questions were answered by guitarist Yan Fedyaev (aka GOOT) and bassist Simone Sut (aka Zimon).
MHF: Hello. I’m Rainer and I write for Metalheads Forever Magazine. I’m delighted to be doing this interview with you. How are you?
Simone: Not bad here, is good to be here to speak about our music.
MHF: I first heard about you with the promo for ‘The Toll Remains The Same’. I think many fans feel the same way. Please introduce yourselves briefly.
Yan: If GOOT only started with this promo for you, then we have a lot more music in store for you. Including the full-length album “Weight Of Days” with David Reece on vocals, which was released last year. GOOT is an international metal project that began its activities in late 2017 with the single “Come Alive”. The project currently has a relatively stable line-up, but we are always open to collaborating with other musicians and often invite guests. Initially, GOOT was created with the goal of realizing ideas that did not find a place in my two other related projects Dissector and THE LUST.
Simone: I’m the bassplayer but I follow also the graphical stuffs for the band, and sometimes do some keyboard/electronic stuffs.
MHF: You were founded in 2017. Over the past eight years, you have released a ton of songs, EPs and albums. Where do you get the inspiration for all these releases? Do you even have time for a private life?
Yan: Yes, we are quite productive. The releases you listed are only a part of what we record and manage to mix. Much in one form or another remains in the archives and waits for its time, so we can release music without recording anything new for a couple of years. But we still continue to generate something new. Sometimes we return to some unfinished songs years later. We try to make sure that everything we have already created is at least somewhat useful. Of course, I am inspired by my favorite music, films with cool soundtracks, which, alas, have become very few in recent years, travel, some human actions. Honestly, I have never lacked inspiration. I can compose songs from morning to night, in industrial quantities. It’s just that no one needs it. As for my personal life, as far as I know, music does not interfere with it! On the contrary, by composing music I probably free myself from all sorts of devilry in my thoughts and strange ideas that may not end well. Plus, in recent years I have been recording guitar at home and do not go to studios in different cities, as before. So, my close circle is only better off from this. But sometimes my musician friends suffer, whom I start persistently asking to record something. Especially when fifty new demo recordings accumulate, with which something needs to be done, and I really want to release a couple of new albums.
Simone: Yan is the “Riffs Master” of the band, it is good to collaborate with him.
MHF: On the other hand, your lineup is quite limited. There are many guest musicians to be heard. How do you collaborate with them?
Yan: As I already said, GOOT now has a more or less permanent line-up of participants, each of whom can record remotely and independently. We have also been collaborating with the guests who can be heard on our albums for several years. When we created the project, we did not focus on guest participation, but over time it turned out that way. Personally, I like this kind of collective creativity more than being a one-man project. Working relationships with each of the guests are different: some work quickly, while others need reminders, some record at home, while others need to rent a studio, some feel free, while others need references and frameworks. But I always give guests complete freedom of action, without stress and strict deadlines. So positive human relationships come first, and only then working relationships. And the result, more often than not, satisfies me.
Simone: I collaborate with Yan since 2015, started to record bass for one of his other project, and when he creates GOOT, I was onboard from the beginning.
MHF: The most well-known of the many guests is the American singer David Reece. How did you get to know him? And how did you persuade him to sing many of your songs?
Yan: I met David online through the Metal On Loud community in 2019. We were recording an album with guest vocalists, and David was one of the few who took the risk of working with a little-known project. Of course, for us it was incredibly cool! But if you dig even deeper, I have known David’s voice since my teens, when he recorded the album “Eat The Heat” with Accept in 1989, and then released his first album with the Bangalore Choir in 1992. So for me, he is not just a guest musician – it is much more.
MHF: David is a great star in the Rock and Metal scene. Is he easy to work with?
Yan: Easy and extremely professional. He knows his stuff, knows how to improve a song, is responsible and respectful of the material he provides. Not to mention his excellent, emotional classic rock vocals, which are very rare in the modern metal scene. Quality that has been developed over the years. David is probably the only member of GOOT recordings who does not need editing during mixing. And we always look forward to his studio demos when we are working on a new album – it is always a special anticipation, like a Christmas present.
Simone: We had also the possibility to meet him in person, he is a very nice persons, we spoken about music and life, and even if it was the first time seemed that we known each other since many years!
MHF: He can also be heard on your latest work, ‘The Toll Remains The Same’. From my point of view, there are five regular songs on it. The rest are remixes and special versions. Is this an EP with a lot of bonus material, or do you consider it more of a full-length album?
Yan: Of course, this is not a full-length album, like the previous “Weight Of Days” with David. For me personally, this is still an extended EP, a kind of intermediate link between two albums. I understand that such a format is more difficult to review and promote, but for us personally, the release of ‘The Toll Remains The Same’ solves several problems at once. This is an opportunity to work additionally with David, and a demonstration of what the future full-length album will be like, and a desire to share additional material with fans. The next album with David will already have classical forms with completely new material. We will start mixing it this fall and, hopefully, release it in 2026.
MHF: How did the songwriting for the EP/album go? Did Goot (aka Yan Fedyaev), the band’s namesake, write all the songs himself?
Yan: Yes, all GOOT material starts with guitar demos that Yan records at home, and which over time acquire everything necessary in different studios. As a rule, the drummer works with these demos first, then the vocalist, and then everyone else. Accordingly, guest musicians (usually solo guitarists) record in their own mode. However, we do not adhere to any strict work patterns. We record spontaneously, for our own pleasure. We have never experienced a shortage of songs: the project always has a regularly updated stock of 30-40 new demos, from which one or another album is assembled as soon as they are ready.
Simone: Yes, as explained by Yan, all the songs start from a guitar demos, I work at home, and after record my parts at the studio.
MHF: How satisfied are you with ‘The Toll Remains The Same’?
Yan: We are happy with everything: the quality of the material, the sound, the graphic design and the printing. Special respect to the Slaughtered Studio, where we mix all of GOOT’s material. I can’t call us flawless, I don’t think we are perfectionists, there is always something to improve or add. But we like the results of our work. Which in turn inspires us to continue creating.
MHF: What were the reactions of fans and the press?
Yan: Despite the hybrid format of ‘The Toll Remains The Same’, we receive mostly positive reviews. People were not too confused by this. And we are glad that most reviewers understand what material for a review is and what is for fans. The listeners themselves, apparently, liked the new material and its direction. We appreciate this and feel that with the next album we are doing everything right.
MHF: Given the large number of releases, it stands to reason that work is already underway on the next songs. When can we expect the next EP or album?
Yan: Oh yeah, like I said, we’re constantly recording new stuff. In that sense, GOOT has a lot planned for the coming years. Next year, there’s a new album planned with David Reece. Before that, we’ll be finishing up the second part of our debut album, “Destitute Souls,” which will be half original material and half cover versions. We haven’t decided yet what form we’re going to release it in, but it’s almost all mixed. There won’t be many guests on the album, but that’s never been our goal – to have as many guests on the records as possible. It’s a spontaneous process. We’re also working on another album of covers, and we’re also finishing up songs that will one day be on the next GOOT studio album. We’re also recording a few new songs with David Reece right now. They might end up on an EP. But let’s not make the universe laugh with our plans, let’s see what comes of it.
MHF: Are Goot purely a studio project, or do you also perform your music live?
Yan: True, GOOT is a studio-only project. In this case, it is the most comfortable format for all participants. Of course, there is a special thrill in live performances. I, and all the other GOOT participants, are well acquainted with it. But in these conditions, we exist only in the studio and try to compensate for the lack of concert activity with the quality of songs and releases in general.
MHF: Thank you once again for this interview. Would you like to say anything else to music fans before we finish?
Yan: Thank you for taking the time to read the interview and valuing (or just planning to listen to) our material. We will be glad to receive feedback. There is still a lot of interesting things ahead!
Simone: Thank you for your time, Thanks to all the fans that support us, keep in touch!
Goot are:
GOOT aka Yan Fedyaev – Guitar, Back Vocals
Zimon aka Simone Sut – Bass
Lorelei Ether aka Anna Vereschagina – Keyboards
Marti Matsilla – Drums
Theodor Borovski – Programming, Sound, Drums
plus various guest musicians
Discography:
Come Alive – Single 2017
It’s Too Late – Single 2018
Keep the Streets Empty for Me – Single 2018
Feel – Single 2018
Svetlaya – EP 2018
Faded Glory – Single 2018
Vote for Love – EP 2018
Destitute Souls – Album 2019
It’s Just Life – Single 2019
One Last Time – Single 2019
You Are Not Alone – Single 2019
As the Earth Rotates – Single 2020
Bred to Be Broken – Single 2020
Face It – Single 2020
Waiting for the Sign – Single 2020
Oceans of Regret – Single 2020
The Everlasting – Album 2020
Movie on a Laptop – Single 2021
Deadly Free – EP 2021
F.T.S. – Single 2021
Legendary – EP 2021
Forever – Single 2021
God’s Doubt – Album 2022
Grey – Single 2022
Mystify – Single 2022
Substance P – Album 2023
Light It Up – Single 2023
Light It Up – EP 2023
Летать не страшно – Single 2023
Weight of Days – Album 2024
Tick-Tock – Single 2024
Devour – EP 2025
Icarus Down – EP 2025
The Toll Remains the Same – EP 2025
Social Media:
Bandcamp – https://goot.bandcamp.com/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/GOOTPROJECT/
Soundcloud – https://soundcloud.com/gootproject
Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/intl-de/artist/2mDT6JuVeq0n7oSotdWniP
Telegram – https://t.me/worldlessness
Apple Music – https://music.apple.com/us/artist/goot/1532735646
