Band Profile & Show Recap: Washington D.C.’s Goetia
“Now the parts of ceremonial magic are Goetia and Theurgia.
Goetia is unfortunate, by the commerces of unclean spirits made up of the rites of wicked curiosities, unlawful charms, and deprecations, and is abandoned and execrated by all laws.”
— Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, Three Books of Occult Philosophy.
Agrippa was wrong. Playing within the pedagogy of deities for the benefit of oneself, driven by a lone quest of personal betterment through established guidelines and rules is weak. Those who take the path of Theurgia are craven, bound to an eternal existence of spiritual subjugation.
Goetia is a method of empowerment through interpretation, opening up paths of indeterminate destinations; a recognition of strength through curiosity and respect for dissent. This is a realm that will consume those who approach without care, and reward those who seek to understand.
In 2025 the metal scene should embrace the principles of Goetia, and it feels incredible to have an eponymous group embodying these very notions in some of the most unique death metal released in recent memory. Comprised of a powerful trio of occultists, Goetia is Matt Scott on bass and vocals, Aidan Tydings-Lynch on drums, and Demir Soyer on guitar. Bringing the mastery of bands from across the spectrum of heavies, specifically Soyer’s facemelting work in Genocide Pact, and Tydings-Lynch’s expert percussion of Brain Tournequet, the group is absolutely breathtaking to watch live. Their flavor of death metal is one of crystal clear fidelity, punctuated with the best elements of thrash, and presented in the artistic styling of religious heresy typically reserved for black metal. The whole package is so beautifully unique, it’s a wonder they haven’t made it on any best-of lists in the three years they’ve been in the game. That is, until one takes a quick glance at their discography: three EPs in two years, 3K listeners on Spotify, and a short but ravenous comments section on Bandcamp. With no LP to their name, the best is yet to come.
I wanted to do my part to proselytize the chthonic word of Goetia. I was lucky enough to catch them nearly two days in a row, first at the after-show of the Philly Decibel Beer & Metal festival where they set fire to the velvety stage of North Philly’s Ortlieb’s, then in Brooklyn the following Monday where they opened for Vastum. The band was nice enough to sit down with me and chat before the latter of the two shows and give me some insight into the journey so far.
Forever hoping I don’t come off as too much of a fan, I immediately blew my cover and told the trio that their set was the best of Friday at Decibel Fest despite not playing on the big stage at The Fillmore. Soyer, cross-legged and with a warm smile, mentioned that it was such an honor to be associated with Decibel regardless of the venue. “Besides, Ortlieb’s has the feel of DC Fest, a punk fest from back in the day that always took place at The Pinch, our favorite dive.” With a smile, Scott added that they had to tear themselves away from Dismember’s closing set at The Fillmore in order to make it to their own show. “It was totally surreal watching them on stage, watching one of my favorite bands ever before playing my own set. We ran to get here!”
Photo: Travis Stone
It’s always fascinating to hear about the heroes that make up-and-comers stop in their tracks, and when asked about meeting their own idols, Soyer took no pause before immediately mentioning his meeting Max Cavalera. “I was nervous to talk to him, but he wore a Goetia shirt on stage. I had no idea that was coming and it was a huge deal to me.” Aiden, fumbling with a $10 jar of bodega peanut butter and a banana, which she casually called “dinner” took a more immediate approach to considering influences from the scene and pointed right to Vastum, who they were currently touring with. “We’ve all been in a single van for the duration of the tour, nearly 10 people all crammed in there. They’re so wise in all ways of the world, it’s been absolutely amazing touring with them.”
Aside from sweet to hear such deserved praise for their fellow tourmates, I really wanted to understand how a band composed of such varied backgrounds, from grind, to hardcore, to death metal, are able to coalesce into something as unique as Goetia. It should come as no surprise that Soyer draws massive influence from raw first wave black metal royalty, Bathory and combines that with hints of Judas Priest. “Traditional metal is a huge influence of mine. Glam, even. It’s what helps us give structure to the music with poppy elements,” something that’s immediately obvious on their latest EP, Otherworldly Agency, which features more hooks, and classic verse/chorus structure. And thank god for the variance of taste—Soyer’s tone, so deliciously overdriven a la Bathory, is perfectly calibrated for the third degree burns left by the heat of his incredible solo work in the way that only a bright 1980’s Crate amplifier can provide. It was incredibly cool to see him play the opening solo “Mephistopheles” two times in such a short period. While always recognizable, he leaves room to channel his mood and emotion by playing it slightly differently each night. When I mentioned how human that felt, aiding in my connection to the live experience he simply said “some people hate it, but I also love it.” Tydings-Lynch on the other hand comes from the crust world where she is known for her brutal blast beats and lightning-fast transitions. Combine all of that together with Scott’s love of Peter Steele and you get “Riffy. Fast. Extreme.” Wish I could remember who said that.
In a previous interview with Idiot EQ, Scott mentions that Goetia aims to deal with themes of the fantastical and otherworldly. Pointing to his AFI shirt he expanded that spooky stuff has always fascinated him. Describing himself as a “weird kid” he rattled off a number of different options when asked who his favorite demon is. Stolas, the crowned owl, and Amon, with the face of a wolf and lizard’s tail, are mentioned, but the real source of influence for their lyrical content lies in influence from Morbid Angel, “the first guys in the death metal scene to really bring a sense of informed evil into their lyrics.” After a moment to consider this, it dawned on me that there really isn’t a ton of crossover in the death metal scene with magic and the occult. With encyclopedic depth, Aiden went into detail about all the bands that connect death metal to gore, giving immense homage to heroes Cannibal Corpse, but mentioned “it’s not what we want to do. Or rather maybe we’re not the right ones to do it.”
Scott expanded on the endeavor to bring the esoteric to death metal, specifically taking pride in his research for the visual identity of the band. With a palpable passion aided by the intensity of his blue eyes, Scott happily relates that all the album artwork is carefully selected from ancient wood carvings, including their debut EP, Goetia which features Saint Anthony being tortured by demons. “The Infernal Dictionary, a Christian perspective on demonology, is a primary source of imagery and influence.” When asked who owns the jack-o-lantern that appeared at both their shows, Scott claimed influence for that touch, too. And in the spirit of giving credit where credit is due, a careful read of their bandcamp will reveal a note of “Cover art originally by Martin Schongauer c. 1470–75, edited by M. Scott.” Even with the copyright expired by half a millennium, always credit the originator.
Before parting with the band, I had to ask one final thing. And it wasn’t something I considered ahead of our chat, but all the talk of redefining death metal got me wondering: how are they feeling about the state of the scene right now, specifically in the heart of America’s political system? I haven’t spent much time in DC ever, but knowing the city’s anarcho-punk history, and the edgy but ultimately frivolous aforementioned topics in death metal got me wondering: is this another area where Goetia differentiates themselves? Scott simply looked at me and said “we are not an apolitical band.” You’ll note a prominently displayed Palestinian flag draped across their amp when you see them live. They also took a moment to shout out fellow leftists, Position Unida.
If you haven’t seen Goetia play live yet, prepare for one hell of a show. Soyer becomes a beast of a different kind, contorting his face in sympathetic connection for his strings as he bends them within an inch of their elasticity. Tydings-Lynch, from behind a gorgeous mop of strawberry blonde hair becomes a frenzy of limbs as she flies between fills on the rototom and drilled crash. Her face becomes something possessed, a glint of gritted white teeth being the only source of light emanating from behind the kit. And Scott, lolling his eyes into the back of his skull only for them to reappear pointed directly up at the sky in feral angst, something he later told me that likens to “screaming at god.”
All in all the experience of seeing only three people translate so much sound unto such beautifully orchestrated death metal is truly dumbfounding. The Philly show specifically was a thrasher’s paradise, taking place just under a mile from the main venue, the small stage is hidden away in the back of a long wood-lined dive bar, a lone working punk taking $15 for entry. The room was absolutely packed when my buddies and I got there around 1am. Philly is the city of brotherly love and there was no shortage of support in the room: the energy was electric as the crowd watched the three DC heshers do their set up on stage. The moment they struck their first note the pit absolutely erupted. There’s something to be said about a crowd of people who attend an aftershow at a small club and I’m pretty sure that can be summed up with “just getting started”. Every attempt to take shots of the set via my diminutive film camera was a Mission Impossible-esque dance of contortions that would make any certified Yoga teacher raise their eyebrows in concern for my spine. The room was hardly lit save for a sizeable neon sign that simply read Ortlieb’s in the left corner, I was forced to rely on pushing the film, attempting to make up for the lack of light in development. When I was later able to show the snaps to the band they loved how particularly evil they look, the gray undertone highlighted by an ungodly haze from behind as Scott levies his accusations at god above, Soyer and Tydings-Lynch continuing their blazing fast lock-step assault in behind him. Check out Alyssa Rozen’s shots from the show here, they perfectly capture the vibe of the night in much higher quality, and if you want to see just how impressive that always-recognizable-endlessly-unique solo for Mephistopheles is, check out my video below. Note the in-phone stabilization attempting to stop my hand from shaking – that’s a mix of the utter power coming from the amps in front, and the pit unceasingly slamming into my back. Wouldn’t trade it for the (under)world.
Go see Goetia. They are going to be fucking huge.
Shots from the Decibel aftershow in Philly on Kodak TMAX 400, pushed 1 stop to 800 ISO.
Shots from their Brooklyn set on good ol’ digital.
