From the rehearsal rooms of Bilbao, Görgar burst onto the NWOTHM scene with fire and grit. Formed in early 2023, this Basque quartet blends veteran experience with a shared love for Judas Priest, Helloween, and fantasy-fueled storytelling.

Their debut single “Nine Lives Stealer” marks not just a nod to tradition, but a true revival—born of friendship, passion, and a heavy metal heart. We spoke with the band about their roots, inspirations, and quest to bring classic metal back to the stage.

Interview

TheNwothm: Can you introduce the band and where you are from?

G: Görgar is a Heavy Metal band from Bilbao (Basque Country). It was formed by 3 guys that wanted to play Nightcrawler from Judas Priest over and over again. Long time friends that decided to form a band together. Later Adrian joined (a referral from Andoni, former Viators) and finally we completed the band with Rober (former Under Silence).

TheNwothm: Görgar was born in Bilbao in early 2023 so how did the idea for the band come together, and what was the original vision? Andoni, Iñigo and I (Juan)

G: Everything began when Andoni started playing drums in 2022. He started practicing in some famous rehearsal rooms in Bilbao and asked Iñigo and I (Juan) if we wanted to join him and play some helloween and Judas priest covers. Iñigo and I had been in various bands in the years before but we were done with music by that time. Since the three of us had similar music tastes it all came together and after a year just playing covers the idea of forming a band became more consistent.

TheNwothm: You all come from various established acts so how have your past musical experiences shaped Görgar’s sound and chemistry?

G: After some of us flirted with other subgenres of metal such as pagan metal, power metal, or hard rock, we felt an urge to return to the origin. Obviously our past experiences still have some influence on how we write songs nowadays. If I had to guess, probably the love for power metal keeps us seeking fast riffs and epic melodies. Pagan metal background led us to add the epicness of the battle into the songs and some dark tones.

G: Experience with Hard rock also gave us ideas when we wanted to fit in a more classic sound.

TheNwothm: Who are some of your musical heroes or influences—both globally and locally?

G: First things first, Helloween & Judas Priest. These two bands mean a lot to all of us. Also we are into more recent bands like Eternal Champion, Visigoth and all of this NWOTHM. Locally, Sutagar and of course we have to mention Vhäldemar. They are from our hometown as well.
‘A muerte!’

TheNwothm: How important is the Basque cultural identity or Bilbao’s music scene to Görgar’s sound or mission?

G: We basque people are very proud of our land. Basque Country has a rich history of metal bands. Also some metal festivals are on the rise nowadays, growing every year. 

TheNwothm: What does “Heavy Metal” mean to you in 2025, especially with the resurgence of traditional metal?

G: For us Heavy Metal means everything. It is powerful, it is exciting and it is eternal.This new scene of Traditional Heavy Metal has helped a lot.We felt like returning to the roots, and we feel that we are not alone in this with the growing interest in NWOTHM.

TheNwothm: Your debut single “Nine Lives Stealer” has dropped. What’s the story or concept behind the song?

G: The song is made up of three individual stories, all of them set in the D&D World (we all are huge fans of that game), which are interconnected through the sword wielded by their main characters, which is a Nine Lives Stealer. This sword is capable of instantly killing any creature with a limit of up to nine lives.

TheNwothm: The track has epic and fantasy undertones—what are your lyrical influences? Are you drawing from mythology, literature, or personal tales?

G: We are all big fans of fantasy novels and role playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons and Warhammer. We also love history so you will find some lyrics about epic battles & deeds, too.

TheNwothm: You worked with Pedro J. Monge at Chromaticity Studios. What was that recording experience like?

G: Most of us worked with Pedro in the past recording albums for our previous bands. Recording at chromaticity studios has become a more fluent process. It only took a working day to record all the instruments and vocals for these two songs. Pedro has been mixing bands all these years and the final outcome is impressive. 

TheNwothm: How do you approach songwriting as a band? Is it a collaborative effort or does someone usually bring the core ideas?

G: Usually we start with a riff (as I guess most bands do). I (Juan) am usually the one in charge for this first step. Then everyone is collaborative and adds his parts to the songs. We play the song for some time, looking for possible improvements such as drum fills, bass line variations and lead guitar arrangements that put the cherry on top.  At this point Rober is usually writing the lyrics and figuring out the voice lines and choruses.

TheNwothm: There’s talk of a second track and even a full album—can you give us any teasers about what’s coming next?

G: Yes! Our second single “Overlord” is on the way, another classic heavy metal hymn with a heavier power metal influence than Nine lives Stealer. Two lyric videos for our first two singles are on the way too, with no release date yet, but sometime along July or August. We hope they make the wait for the EP a little lighter. 

After that we are planning on recording and releasing an EP which will continue the path set by our first two songs. The plan is to return to the studio by the end of august or september. 

TheNwothm: Can you tell our readers a bit about yourselves?

G: We are all metalheads that love to go to shows, buy records, and play music. We have programmers, a finance guy, a designer and a History teacher in the band. It does help a lot to have someone with design skills to design logos and stuff.I (Juan) and Andoni are gonna attend both Up the hammers and Keep it True festival next year, it is gonna be a blast!