Gomorrah was formed in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia in 2006. Originally a black metal outfit, their name is associated with a historical reference to the city mentioned in the Book of Genesis. Gomorrah has shared the stage with Suffocation, Cryptopsy, King Parrot, KenMode, The Agonist, Fuck The Facts, and plenty others. Now they are releasing their second full-length album, The Haruspex, through Canadian label Test Your Metal Records. If you glanced at the cover, you can probably assume this isn't going to be pretty.
Indeed, these jams are some heavy, dark stuff. Finding a bit of a halfway point between the low-end chug of early Whitechapel and the extremeity of blackened death metal, Gomorrah is more sinful than Sodom. The insanely deep growl maintained throughout the runtime decimates the listener with equal parts Sulphur Aeon and Nathan Explosion. This is the evil of men incarnate. In fact, the barbaric presence of these vocals was part of what drew me to the group to begin with.
But a question I ask myself is whether these vicious vox would be half as threatening without the backdrop of this particular guitarwork. I don't have an answer, but it is clear that the riffing style has a lot to add to the tone and atmosphere. "Carcosa" provides an excellent introduction to the various styles here...all of them blackened to perfection. Feirce shrieking tremolo, crunchy chords amplified by violent drum breaks, and creepy-ass delay effects on some really goosebump-inducing leads. There's a certain level of technicality to it all that is impressive, but shrouded in enough shadows as if to say "we don't want that to be what you take away from the experience."
Rather, Gomorrah seem far more interested in just making the aesthetic as grim and foreboding as possible. In this, they have most definitely succeeded. The entire duration is an unyielding chasm of despair. So in the end, The Haruspex will not likely be the most innovative thing you hear in 2016, but it sure as hell rings in the new year with a vengeance. Pick it up today if you dare.
- Review by FlightOfIcarus
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