Gorod Leading Vision
Willowtip Records WT045 August 22nd, 2006
By Jason Jordan
Gorods debut Neurotripsicks slipped past more than a few people since Willowtip had a phenomenal 2005. Releases from Alarum, Rotten Sound, Circle of Dead Children, Neuraxis, Watchmaker, Arsis, and Crowpath overshadowed ones by The Dying Light, Kill the Client, and these Frenchmen. Surprisingly, Leading Vision is an unforeseen improvement over Neurotripsicks in a number of areas, and this unit sound considerably different from their 05 incarnation.
Last year, Gorod turned in an enjoyable tech death outing, but their previous missteps are more apparent when comparing their debut to their sophomore recording. The overall sound is thicker and meatier, and no longer do the quintet musically come across as passable. In other words, these tracks feel more substantial, and the musicians involved have learned or decided, perhaps to accentuate one another. While it is a technical death metal album, Leading Vision is unafraid to venture outside usual boundaries by experimenting with tempo, instrumentation, and approach. Here Die Your Gods is both the opener and a good example of how not to be a robotic, unending blast of speed: theres room to move around in this subgenre of metal without playing as fast as you can until the end of the song. Similarly, Thirst for Power and Hidden Genocide are incredibly groove-driven, with guitar leads lending support and drums reinforcing the individual structures. Theres nary a loser hiding amongst the 10, and the 43-minute, concept album pleases due to the fact that it fares well on all levels, leaving little to be desired, except for its relative lack of memorableness.
However, even after tallying the positives, Leading Vision has failed in its quest to be a spectacular record its just good. That wouldnt necessarily pose a problem for Gorod, but theyre facing extraordinarily stiff competition coming from the likes of Anata, Decapitated, Psycroptic, Spawn of Possession, and labelmates Dim Mak and Sulaco. Technical death is in this year, but aside from petty versus matches, Gorod have presented us with yet another album worthy of our time and Willowtip simultaneously continues its unbelievable streak of quality-littered releases. Dont expect to revisit this full-length too often, though.
7/10
UMs Review Rating Scale
Official Gorod Website
Official Willowtip Records Website
Willowtip Records WT045 August 22nd, 2006
By Jason Jordan
Gorods debut Neurotripsicks slipped past more than a few people since Willowtip had a phenomenal 2005. Releases from Alarum, Rotten Sound, Circle of Dead Children, Neuraxis, Watchmaker, Arsis, and Crowpath overshadowed ones by The Dying Light, Kill the Client, and these Frenchmen. Surprisingly, Leading Vision is an unforeseen improvement over Neurotripsicks in a number of areas, and this unit sound considerably different from their 05 incarnation.
Last year, Gorod turned in an enjoyable tech death outing, but their previous missteps are more apparent when comparing their debut to their sophomore recording. The overall sound is thicker and meatier, and no longer do the quintet musically come across as passable. In other words, these tracks feel more substantial, and the musicians involved have learned or decided, perhaps to accentuate one another. While it is a technical death metal album, Leading Vision is unafraid to venture outside usual boundaries by experimenting with tempo, instrumentation, and approach. Here Die Your Gods is both the opener and a good example of how not to be a robotic, unending blast of speed: theres room to move around in this subgenre of metal without playing as fast as you can until the end of the song. Similarly, Thirst for Power and Hidden Genocide are incredibly groove-driven, with guitar leads lending support and drums reinforcing the individual structures. Theres nary a loser hiding amongst the 10, and the 43-minute, concept album pleases due to the fact that it fares well on all levels, leaving little to be desired, except for its relative lack of memorableness.
However, even after tallying the positives, Leading Vision has failed in its quest to be a spectacular record its just good. That wouldnt necessarily pose a problem for Gorod, but theyre facing extraordinarily stiff competition coming from the likes of Anata, Decapitated, Psycroptic, Spawn of Possession, and labelmates Dim Mak and Sulaco. Technical death is in this year, but aside from petty versus matches, Gorod have presented us with yet another album worthy of our time and Willowtip simultaneously continues its unbelievable streak of quality-littered releases. Dont expect to revisit this full-length too often, though.
7/10
UMs Review Rating Scale
Official Gorod Website
Official Willowtip Records Website
