Gorod – The Ember Gone
Gorod – The Ember Gone
Base Productions and Season Of Mist
Release date: 28/08/26
Review by Oli Gonzalez
7/10
I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again. There’s something in the water in France. A nation consistently producing metal bands that twist and contort the rulebook and put their own stamp on the genre. Whether it’s Igorrr, Year Of No Light, Alcest, we now can add Gorod to that mix. Describing themselves as ‘one of the most electrifying and tightest acts in modern extreme metal’ seems like a tall order, especially when compared to the bands just mentioned. But Season Of Mist don’t sign duds, and they hit the road in Europe this autumn, alongside Allegaeon. Until then, “The Ember Gone” offers a glimpse of what to expect and what they’ve been up to in the studio.
The album starts vibrantly with ‘Signs’. Whilst they seem to hold back in unleashing all unmitigated hell, there’s still plenty of venom in Julien’s vocals, alongside the guitars providing the bite and the background synths adding a sense of drama and urgency. They build on these foundations and begin to flex their progressive groove muscles in ‘Devise’, whilst the pace slows to a glacial drip with ‘Forgiveness ’, with the mood being more stripped back, ambient, and almost psychedelic, especially with the hypnotic basslines becoming more prominent in the mid-section of the song. Imagine TesseracT without the walls of distortion. ‘Regret’ follows in a similarly complex math rock rhythm alongside this more stripped-back, cleaner tone to the music, before the walls of distortion make a return later in the music. As do the much heavier growls and vocals, which are welcomed. To be truthful, this is where some of the momentum is lost, as it feels as though they’re writing complex rhythms for their own sake, lacking real conviction. When I think of progressive death metal, I want to rock out to the blistering intensity and crushing power of Beyond Creation, Blood Incantation and The Zenith Passage. Whilst starting promisingly, it feels like the flame has burned out too early for ‘The Ember Gone’. There’s no doubt they’re fiercely talented individual musicians; ‘Ignite’ provides evidence of that. It just feels like the proverbial glue holding the band together is missing. Though ‘Remains’ provides a stronger finish with that earlier aggression returning.
‘The Ember Gone’ is a good, solid album, no doubt. Maybe it’s a preference thing, but this is more for the fans of Cynic and Opeth; those on the more experimental side of the spectrum, rather than those who like their tech-death hard and fast.
TACKLISTING:
01. Signs
02. Devise
03. Forgiveness
04. Regret
05. Crimson
06. Ignite
07. Ember
08. Remains
LINKS:
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