Album/EP

Gozu - Revival (Album Review)

Walladmin

Heavy Metal Wordsmith

/10

Jun 15, 2016

7 min read

Gozu - Revival

Out now via Ripple Music < http://www.ripple-music.com/>

Marc Gaffney // Vocals & Guitar
Mike Hubbard // Drums
Doug Sherman // Guitar
Joe Grotto // Bass

Every time someone mentions stoner or psychedelic rock/metal, Queens of the Stone Age and Kylesa are the first names off anyone’s tongues, but now, I am personally going to add Gozu to the top of my list, as new album Revival has more than enough thick, trippy riffs to see them play with the best.

Hailing from Boston, the four piece have been slogging it through the scene since 2008, releasing some highly acclaimed albums on the way; Fury of a Patient Man being released in 2013 marked a high point of proficiency in their song writing skills. Revival though… Shit. It’s a masterpiece. All the things that the band has been building towards over their career, have culminated here, creating something out of legend, something out of mind that to fully grasp, you have to just listen to it.

The opening track ‘Nature Boy’ explodes out of the gate with a relentless speed that instantly brings a smile to your face (did for me anyway), largely due to the unexpectedness of what I was hearing. Marc Gaffney’s guitar work is heavy, groovy and fast, his fingers tripping along his instrument like something possessed. The pairing of Doug Sherman renders the riffs even better, with solos that force you outside of your body and on an otherworldly spiritual journey, before wrenching you back and crushing you with the same, doomy riff. Song ‘Bubble Time’ holds with the same blistering pace but others like ‘Big Casino’ slow the speed down whilst retaining that same psychedelic heaviness.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvZxo2M1tF8

The sheer weight of the riffs on Revival are in no small part due to the skills of Joe Grotto. The bass tones of his guitar adding that sludge doom sound that is oh so perfect. Track ‘By Mennen’ is one to look into, as it’s probably the crux of the whole album. A perfect blend of slowly crushing riffs and those insane solos I mentioned before come together and are slathered throughout the song, it’s a thing of sheer beauty. To be honest, it actually sounds like a slowly creeping mass of sludge is oozing its way into your ears when Grotto’s base is layered over those riffs, which as far as I can tell, is exactly what everyone wants. Right?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGw61jOFaVw

All this heaviness, you’d believe that there’d be no melody to the music, but you… Would. Be. Wrong. The drumming additions of Mike Hubbard add that extra layer of cohesion that make this album work so well. Smooth, fast and natural sounding, it weaves its way to prominence on songs like ‘Oldie’ and ‘Tin Chicken’ merging with the vocal punctuations of Gaffney: soaring and confident, there’s no holding these elements back. The vocal stylings are what floored me on the first listen, as the bellowing highs and the almost crooning like moments in ‘By Mennen’ hark back to the older days of stoner and doom metal, but are put into action more proficiently than older bands.

Gozu’s Revival does exactly as its name suggests: transports you to a seedy dank tent in the middle of nowhere while you close your eyes and meander through long, doom laden inner journeys. If you don’t believe me, clear a day, turn off your lights and turn this one up as loud as you can.

— Dylonov Tomasivich

Tracklisting