Review | Gotus – Gotus

Frontiers Music srl

This ‘new’ band consists of musicians that have earned their laurels throughout the years. The main man is guitarist Mandy Meyer who played with Krokus (3 different spells), Gotthard (for some 8 years), Unisonic, Katmandü and Cobra, just to name a few. Meyer started this group in 2019 using musicians that he played with in Krokus and other projects, just for some live-gigs. Even top singer Dino Jelusick was for a while part of the group. The pandemic put the band on a hiatus but after Krokus ceased to exist it gave Meyer the idea to take this thing a bit more seriously. On bass we have Tony Castell, on drums Patrick Aeby and on keyboards Alain Guy, all former musicians that Meyer had worked with.

GOTUS – A STRANGE BAND NAME

Gotus sounds and looks like a strange name for a band, don’t you think? The explanation is very simple. It is a combination between Gotthard and Krokus, the bands where Meyer spent the bulk of his career. The current singer of the band, the guy that you can hear on this album is a more familiar person. Who could it be? Dino Jelusick would have been nice, but as Gotus is signed to Frontiers (Dino left that label after a court case) the name of Ronnie Romero was pushed forward. Not unlogical as he had been singing for Coreleoni, the band that re-recorded a whole bunch of Gotthard songs.

When your band is named after Krokus and Gotthard it does not take a lot of imagination to figure out what style of rock Gotus is playing on their debut record. It is a combination of what Meyer has done with those two bands, but also some Katmandü flavour is added.

PREDICTABLE

The result of this all is that the music and the sound of the album (obviously Alessandro Del Vecchio got involved, co-producing with Meyer and Patrik Aeby) is highly predictable. But do not be scared off as ‘Gotus’ is a well-balanced, hard rocking and enjoyable release. Meyer is a top guitarist, Romero a top vocalist and the songs are most of the time above average. Like for instance  ,,What Goes Around Comes Around’’ with its acoustic guitar intro making you believe you are listening to a ‘native Indian’ dance rhythm before it bursts out in a heavy rocker with slide guitar features.

Add to that a few power ballads (,,Reason To Live’’) and a bunch of heavy rockers (,,Undercover’’) and you will hopefully agree with yours truly that Gotus might not be super original perhaps but certainly match the last records of Coreleoni and Gotthard with ease. Meyer has still got what it takes, that is for sure. I am not counting on a long future for this band though as their singer is not known for staying long with any band or project.

Release Date: 19 January 2024