Gutlocker – To Be Alive
Gutlocker – To Be Alive
Self-Released
Release Date: 08/07/22
Running Time: 52:07
Review by Dark Juan
8/10
Greetings, my dear friends. It is I, Dark Juan and I write from a very subdued Dark Juan Terrace, where we are mourning the loss of the mighty Sir Zeusington Zeus, KCVG, VC, MM, DFC and Bar, Croix de Guerre and Order of The Red Banner. The comeback kid finally ran out of comebacks. The Dread Lord Igor Egbert Bryan Clown-Shoe Cleavage-Hoover and Hodgson Biological-Warfare are understandably confused and subdued and rather sad. Igor keeps going to look for the big herbert. I can’t even bring myself to burn down a church today or take organised religion to task for their crimes against humanity. Mrs Dark Juan is relieved about this but dreadfully upset about Zeus. I have killed an entire bottle of Islay single malt in tribute to the best big boi there has ever been and yet I am still weeping. Keep this as a moment of posterity because when I get to the denial stage of grief I am likely to be fucking furious and striking out at the smallest transgression.
Yes, I have feelings. This is as much of a surprise to me as it is to you. I can normally rely on dark humour and my considerable sarcasm to get me through. Not this time, though.
So, in a fairly desperate attempt to forget the pain, even temporarily, I have returned to the comfort of my beloved heavy metal. And today it is Woking based groove metal stalwarts of the UK scene Gutlocker who are receiving my critical attention. Poor lads. They are going to have to do something pretty special to cheer me the fuck up. Are they on to a colossal loser today? Let us find out together.
“To Be Alive” is the first full-length offering from Gutlocker and the first new music from them since 2018’s “Cry Havoc” four track EP. To say it sounds like it was something of a cathartic experience is like stating that thunderstorms are fucking awesome – there’s a single-minded, murderous intent at work here. A hyper-focus on one thing – power. “Send Them All In” sets the stage for the album in uncompromising fashion – no fucking about with wanky intros or noodling. A single crunch and then the ultrafurious howl of vocalist Craig McBrearty rips its way through the riffage and the grooves begin. Drawing from an influence pool that includes Lamb Of God, Pantera and Killswitch Engage, I’d also add The Black Dahlia Murder in there, as Gutlocker share their fluidity and intrepid moving off the well-trodden path to enhance the listening experience. Which is heavy, by the way. Heavier than the Russian Olympic weightlifting team gorging on whatever high calorie food they can lay their hands on. “Send Them All In” is a mighty opener, there’s everything from rage to barely contained insanity when Craig is giggling maniacally in between utterly ruining his own throat. There’s riffs you could use to destroy buildings, a drummer that appears to have more than his allotted amount of arms and a guitarist who clearly doesn’t regard it as an instrument, more a weapon of war. There’s also a very good bass player who is supremely accurate with all the time changes (“Make My Day” amply demonstrates this) which is a rare thing to say about bassists, as they are normally hairy palmed quasi-simians who have to be kicked to be reminded every time there is a time change.
It’s a full on rip-roaring adventure through groove metal, this album, so far. McBrearty (who has been involved in a full on meme war for some time on Facebook) demonstrates his vocal range on “Sink Or Swim”, switching from his trademark scratchy, aggressive howl, to mid-range roaring to a low end guttural that surely would jeopardise the foundations of poorly constructed concert venues. Not a moment is wasted on this album so far – every song is played at high velocity yet the groove never stops. It’s even danceable.
The production of the record is rather splendid as well. Everything is easily discernible and clean and the cymbals are just in the perfect place in the mix, neither overpowering the rest of the instruments or being so far back in the mix they disappear. The snare drum sound though, that’s a different kettle of fish. Regular readers will know that I am a very particular person when it comes to the sound of the snare drum, and Dean Walker’s snare sound is almost fucking insulting. It doesn’t even sound like a wet cloth being hit by a floppy salmon. It doesn’t even sound like Gargamel lobbing Smurfs (shouldn’t that be Smurves? What a strange and curious mistress the English language is) at tautly stretched calico sheets. It sounds like someone hitting a Tupperware with a bone-shaped dog toy, and this is painfully evident on “Out Of Sight” where it sounds like there’s a whole bunch of Tupperware twatting going on, and it all gets a bit clattery and messy.
Thankfully someone removed the plastic storage tubs from Dean in time for “SFS” (also released as a single) and gave him a proper snare drum again. I’m all for experimentation in percussion, but not with Tupperware. There’s even rimshots going on during the break, where the song takes on a punk groove before McBrearty reopens that razor throat and stops singing cleanly again.
All in all, this is a mighty first full-length effort from the Woking bruisers. Sweaty, wide-eyed insanity meets rigidly controlled power and bludgeons the listener into a pile of bloody, inert flesh abandoned in the corner. However, I think a bit of quality control needs to be considered – there’s no need for an interlude and it breaks the flow of the record in an unacceptable fashion. Some of the songs can be somewhat fatiguing as well, the six minutes-worth of “Temporary Bliss” could have lost a good 40 seconds of runtime and not noticed the loss, several parts just being an excuse for blastbeats. However, and this is a fucking massive plus, the band really stretch themselves and their sound on TWELVE MINUTE album closer “A Man Too Proud”, allowing a riff of colossal magnificence to breathe and develop and eschewing their normal breakneck speed for something rather more gothic in tone and tempo – think more My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost mixed with Lamb Of God with segments that don’t actually sound too unlike a bit of Deftones for good measure. This last song is the biggest highlight of the record where the band really allow themselves to be experimental and bust out of the relatively narrow confines of their sound and reach a more transcendental state, yet remain staggeringly, crushingly heavy. This last song is absolute electric alchemy. It swirls and ambulates and is magnificently ALIVE as it morphs through differing forms in each movement.
The Patented Dark Juan Blood Splat Rating System awards Gutlocker 8/10 for a brilliant, yet slightly flawed debut album that really is transformed by the closing track and the wider dimensions it opens up for the listener. Still for a full length debut this is pretty fucking special and it just shows that us Brits can still kick the arses of any fucker who crosses our path and looks at us the wrong way.
Well done, chaps. And remember, Craig, you promised to be nice to me until this review was published!
TRACKLISTING:
01. Send Them All In
02. Make My Day
03. Sink Or Swim
04. To Be Alive
05. Out Of Sight
06. SFS
07. Absence Of Change
08. Interlude
09. Once A Snake
10. Temporary Bliss
11. A Man Too Proud
LINE-UP:
Craig McBrearty – Vocals
Pete Tucker – Guitar
Dean Walker – Drums
Ben Rollinson – Bass
LINKS:
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