Gorod : "the Orb"

 

This band's reputation plays against it when it comes to sparking my enthusiasm in checking them out. When I hear the term tech-death or praises regarding their technical prowess it is normally a turn off. This is deceptive as the first song is pretty much just ultra aggressive black metal, with groove and thrashing dialed up. Maybe the French just do this sort of thing differently. Midway into the first song I hear hints of this sort of thing, but nothing that is a deal breaker. Are the guitar solos shreddy? Yes, but well done and the album is well produced.  There is lots of tight chugging , but nothing telling me they see the songs as a bookend for masturbatory playing. The longest song is still under seven minutes which lets me know they are willing to use restraint. 

Granted they keep things pretty brisk, sometimes at an outright racing BPM. The rasp of the vocals snarls in a feral cadence that keeps up with the music. Marginally obligatory, so something I will listen for is how the vocals contribute to the music. The first outwardly proggy moment is midway in the second song, and works really well. It bounces not unlike 80s King Crimson. The title track has more of a rock groove to it. It still winds around the more battering angular passages. There varied shades of vocals some more growled other spoken with a sing song cadence. "Savitri" feels like it takes all the elements we have heard from the first three songs and jumbles them up to create a song. There is nothing wrong with the song, it just finds the formula emerging. The melodic clean guitar passages feel like a predictable way to set up the solo. 

"Breeding Silences" finds them rapidly chugging around a maze -like arrangement. It is beginning to wear on me now five songs in, and blitzing blur or temp shifting riffs, with not enough hooks and melody to balance it out. By the time we get to "Victory" I think I have gotten the memo that these guys can play fast and I am less than impressed. Not matter the dizzying manner they try to throw more notes into the mix, it is not memorable when they indulge themselves in this manner. "Waltz of Shades"  is more deliberate , at least at first, which helps distinguish this song from the other blazing riff collection that blurred past my ear. There is more nuance with this one. The need for speed is eventually indulged as I should have expected it to. The guitar work dazzles but has more form and function. 

"Scale of Sorrows" has a little groove to it but most of that gets washed away in the blitz of speed. Two minutes in there is a cool riff, but the rule here is .. cool riffs alone does not a good song make. The end the album with a cover of "Strange Days" by the Doors, while the Doors would have hated this, I like it and think they take what they do and still manage to capture the feel of the song though it is not as dark. I will give this album an 8.5, not really my thing, but still managed to grow on me. If you are into tech death this album might be a 9 for you, but in terms of what I am listening for here I think an 8.5, is pretty generous and earned for winning me over.