Ghoulgotha "To Starve The Cross"


When you are drunk things often seem better than they actually are.  Last night when I had consumed a singular alcoholic beverage too many I found myself attempting to focus on my Bandcamp feed at some ungodly hour.  One of the releases that came up was Ghoulgotha and their second album "To Starve The Cross".  Initially my interested was piqued by the gloriously named opening track title "Village of Flickering Torches" but as I listened to the actual music it was this that actually grabbed me.  The point being I had tried the debut effort from these chaps and despite there being some buzz around it on the internet, I never got the fuss - hence my assumption that my drunken ears were deceiving me!

It wasn't that "The Deathmass Cloak" was poor by any means, more just well done death/doom with no real special anything to set it apart from most other well done death/doom at the time.  The one thing that is comparable with the debut on the follow up release is just how well Ghoulgotha continue to deliver death/doom as a sub-genre.  There is an obvious clarity to the doom bits as well as a similar transparency to the death metal parts also.  When the two combine they make for one powerful engine of crushing music.

The difference (to these ears at least) this time around are the twists, turns and time changes that litter the experience of the ten tracks on offer.  The simply odd pace and timing of the second track "Pangaea Reforms" sounds like a rehearsal that's going  really well and the band are discovering a new sound as they go.  The proggy builds that occur regularly through "To Starve The Cross" are subtle and in no way detract from what are on the whole some very solid song structures, yet at the same time they show a variety to proceedings that catches your eye without being distracting.

Secondly, Ghoulgotha can use melody really effectively to build atmosphere and lay a clear passage down mid-track to link some staccato riff with some frenzied old school DM guitar work.  The sonic start to "A Lord In The Shattered Mirror" or the racing pace of "Abyssic Eyes" are nods to the bands death metal influences.  Even when you're enjoying a melodic passage you are never far away from the familiar pace of a DM jog.

As the album goes on there are reminders of how well Ghoulgotha ply their chosen trade.  The effortless flow of "Visceral Seas" for example or the filthy murk of "Thou Beneath Ligaments Foul" as it drives relentlessly down onto the listener barely pausing for breath.

There are some bits that don't work. "Wounds Immaculate" is a stretch too far unfortunately, after it's atmospheric intro the track descends into a rather predictable plod only to be torn up by meandering melodic guitar work that comes across as just a bit confusing.  This is perhaps the album's biggest fault.  It does get a tad old quite quickly as the multitude of time changes take their toll.  As stated, the band are perfectly capable of throwing down some classic DM chug and it would be nice to have a little more of that for my money at least.

That having been said it is only their second album and in eighteen months the band have moved on considerably from their debut.  The difficult second album is out the way now and it throws down a big gauntlet for album number three to pick up and move on with.  I am sure the boys are up to the challenge.

3/5
Links

Dark Descent Records Bandcamp - Ghoulgotha

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