BEN MCCROW

THE ROTTED

He started his musical career in 1999 when he joined THE ROTTED's previous incarnation- GOREROTTED. Nicknamed as Babysliced (a male alter ego of Baby Spice of The Spice Girls), Goreskin (I don't want to know why) and Ben Rotted. Powerful voice and variegated personality. Stage freak. Bald and tattooed. Hereby I would like to introduce you Ben McCrow and his 10 personal classics.

I. GUNS N ROSES – "Appetite For Destruction"
Prior to hearing this when I was about 8 years old, the music I enjoyed was stuff my dad played, like Deep Purple, AC/DC, Joe Satriani, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin etc. but Guns N Roses seemed to just take hard rock to a much more dangerous and aggressive place.





II. NIRVANA – "Nevermind"
The next significant album for me, I think I was 10 when it came out. This record completely blew me away, but I can’t listen to it now because I completely overplayed it as a kid!






III. ANTHRAX – "Among The Living"
Never did I ever imagine that music could be this heavy and this fast! I found it on tape at a second hand record store and bought it because it looked cool. My jaw dropped when I played it for the first time!






IV. SEPULTURA – "Chaos AD"
After Anthrax, I just learned to expect the unexpected, but this was still the heaviest thing in the world to me at the time! I didn’t know that vocals could be this extreme! This album sent a shiver down my spine, this was REAL brutality, and real tales of oppression and life’s hardships. This album got me on the long road to extreme metal, and I’ve never looked back.




V. NAPALM DEATH – "Scum"
I didn’t get this album right away, it was a present from an aunt who asked the guy in the shop what metal album she should get me. I thought the short songs and having 2 different line-ups contribute to the album was cool though, and it made me want to go and discover yet more obscure bands! I prefer what Napalm are doing now, but this early stuff is still cool for the way it changed music back in the day



VI. EMPEROR – "In The Nightside Eclipse"
I honestly felt the guys in Corpse Paint that played this were inhuman, evil motherfuckers! Hearing all about the events in the Black Metal scene in the early 90’s only fuelled this speculation further! At this stage, in the days before the internet and Myspace, there was so much mysticism surrounding it all that I felt like I was a part of some secret, dangerous cult!




VII. DEICIDE – "Once Upon The Cross"
Pure blasphemy! An absolute classic, fronted by a genuine madman!








VIII. CRADLE OF FILTH – "Dusk & Her Embrace"
I was really impressed by the combination of extreme metal with classical symphonies and poetic lyrics. I never guessed at the time that 12 years later I’d be playing in a band with their guitarist!






IX. GOREROTTED – "Her Gash I Did Slash"
This is the demo the band released with a different singer, and I was hooked right away. I loved the sickness combined with the humour, and the guys looked like a bunch of absolute morons! It was 1999, and I joined them a few months later after they kicked the old guy out. That week, we were off to Holland for the first of 3 European dates! I’ve been a part of this for all my adult life. Tim’s the only guy left from this recording so obviously there’s been a few people come and go over the years, but I couldn’t imagine what I’d be doing now if I’d been one of the ones to go!

X. THROBBING GRISTLE – "DOA"
The 3rd and Final Report: This record has to be the most fucked up album I’ve ever heard! It’s not even music, just 4 weirdos experimenting with sounds, long before synths were around. Songs like ‘The Hamburger Lady’, ‘Weeping’ and ‘We Hate You (Little Girls)’ scared the crap out of me, and are actually the inspiration for the violence that’s being told of in ‘Kissing You With My Fists’: Listening to Throbbing Gristle on London’s Underground Train network can make you react very badly to the other passengers’ bullshit!


CV
Real Name: Ben McCrow
Stage Name: Babysliced, Goreskin, Ben Rotted
Born: 1981, London
Function: vocals
Associated: THE ROTTED, GOREROTTED