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Gorod: Process of a new decline
02/10/09 || The Duff
Time is a strange thing, because it seems far longer than three years since I was flabbergasted by the catchy as all fuck tech death platter of awesome “Leading Vision” by this up-and-coming French outfit; “Process of a New Decline” sees the band branching out, tightening their sound and creating some of the densest music two guitars and a drummer (oh yeah, and the tech-death bass player; gotta love ‘em for their persistence only to be snubbed from the final mix) can create – “A Conductor’s Departure” by Anata had some real unusual, full-bodied harmonies going on, but whereas before Gorod were simply infectious riffs with accessory albeit clever leads, now they are taking charge of the “fancy-fluffy-shit” death throne by intermingling all kinds of ideas and making it flow in a manner only meticulous trial-and-error and ongoing, ball-busting rehearsal can create (although Anata will decimate when Earache finally get their act together, oh baby my nipples are leaking in anticipation). Genius, in one word, and I’m someone to agree when reviews mention “not a note wasted” and “beats the tits out of all other 2009 tech death albums”.
So the musicianship is uber-tight, the influences being Cynic, Death, y’know, same old – in fact, one of the slight drawbacks to this disc is the fact that the band’s past forte, the chugs and the groove, has taken a backseat to the point where the ideas appear having been written before by other bands; they fill out the album as opposed to driving it, so if you’re looking for “same old Gorod”, I’m here to tell you they’ve moved on to flashier styles that trek about the higher-end tones of the fretboard. The music is really quite jolly as far as tech death gets (a lot of major scales); I don’t want to sound racist, but (BAGUETTES!) everything is about as (BERETS!!!) upbeat as can only come from a country that has avoided facing Germany on the two separate occasions where it has had the opportunity to show what its men has inside les pantalons, hon-hee-hon. This doesn’t detract in the slightest, though, as the album comprises the same buoyant, contagious flare of its predecessor, just more sided with what must have been painstakingly construed lead-style riffing with bucketloads of harmony.
The solos are pretty darned sweet too – you can’t beat absolutely flawless phrasing, yet the guys have technique and all-out virtuosic skill to boast of as well. I read in a review that the guys “have practiced to the point of clearly never having been laid” without the realization that playing like this is what gets you laid. I must congratulate the band on the little bridges peppered throughout the album, melodic flurries and emotional little ditties that hit hard as well as give the disc some space to breathe. The vocals are quite varied (some Cynic cleans on one of the tracks, I think “The Path”), but nothing entirely moving – the guttural stuff can be stimulating, but Guillaume clearly understands his place in the backseat to the techy madness, and if it weren’t for the uplifting riffs, the guy would be regular. Finally, I really admired past drummer Sandrine as a limited player who made the most out of her inadequacies, but by golly-shit this band needed someone as adept as fresh recruit Sam who at first appears quite withheld, but with repeated listens reveals himself as a drummer who believes less is more, but fuck you in the ass if he’s not going to make the most of those three seconds before the chorus riff.
An amazing record, maybe as good as “Leading Vision” but not better, the band is evolving very comfortably and showing that their creativity is far from wilted.
- Information
- Released: 2009
- Label: Willowtip Records
- Website: www.gorod.free.fr
- Band
- Guillaume: vocals
- Mathieu: guitar
- Barby: bass
- Arnaud: guitar
- Sam: drums
- Tracklist
- 01. Disavow Your God
- 02. Programmers of Decline
- 03. Diverted Logic
- 04. Rebirth of Senses
- 05. The Path
- 06. Splinters of Life
- 07. Guilty of Dispersal
- 08. Gilded Cage
- 09. A Common Hope
- 10. Watershed
- 11. Almighty’s Murderer
