Some albums are designed to ease you into their sound, others start with a swift sharp kick to the gonads, this second release by Italian duo Gorrch somehow manages to do both within the first eight seconds of opener ‘Nimbus’. After lulling you into a false sense of security with some rather pleasant Gregorian chanting, Gorrch truly go for the throat and don’t release you until your corpse has stopped twitching.
Let’s not be naïve, dissonant black-metal is clearly (and proudly) a genre that is not to everyone’s tastes, I fully understand why some people wouldn’t want to sit through 37 minutes of panic-inducing, angular guitars and hammering percussion…..however, I am writing this review on a drizzly Sunday morning and I’m more than happy to jump headfirst into the hellhole that Gorrch have created.
There are some serious technical skills on show here, whether it’s in ‘Larvae’ where the note perfect guitars clash and screech together like two sheets of metal, or the laser precision of the drummer and his innate ability to know whereto back off and create moments of ominous tension (see ‘Vorago’). The rasping vocals add a further layer of harshness to an already razor-sharp sound, and the Gregorian chanting (oh, yes….it doesn’t go away) is a truly inspired addition, creating a natural thickness to the sound that is often missed within this style of music.
Despite the fact that every song feels like you’re being dragged further into hell by one of Satan’s fiery little imps, there is variety in these songs. Gorrch clearly aren’t afraid to eschew the pure dissonance in place of some more melodic (but equally harrowing) sections. There’s one specific moment in ‘Vorago’ around the four-minute mark where the drums fall into a half time feel and those ever-present chanting vocals rise through the murk…it’s a glorious piece of songwriting and one that has stayed with me since I first heard it.
Although it may not be one to play to your grandma, what Gorrch have created with ‘Stillamentum’ is a record that manages to distil the very essence of dread and present it in a way that is both beautiful and terrifying. I haven’t come across a record so far this year that even comes close to achieving this level of foreboding….and to be perfectly honest, I’m not sure I will again.
Best Paired With: a flaming torch, two Valium and a priest.
Review by Bryn.
Gorrch – Stillamentum is out now on Avantgarde Music.
Leave a Reply