Gaza's "I Don't Care Where I Go When I Die" (Blackmarket Activities) is one of those records I can't totally make up my mind on since I'm generally not that into the whole over the top abrasive/chaotic metalcore thing, but I have to give these cats credit for developing a truly fucked up sound that actually takes this style to different levels—which is pretty fuckin' rare. Yeah, you'll find fairly normal doses of scathing screams and harsh, snarling yells over whacky hammer-on/pull-off runs and acerbically noisy guitar textures, but there's a hell of a lot more going on than that. For one thing, these guys really push the limits of those caustic guitar sounds, experimenting with some truly severe textures. However, they actually form riffs out of that shit, which ain't exactly easy on the ears, but is pretty damn interesting. They also counterbalance the speedy blitzes and frantically shuffled change-ups with some pulverizingly crushing slow to midpaced sludginess—at times even dropping back to some sparse clean passages or truly eerie melodic dissonance—and it's these elements that bear the most promise for me, hooking me in and keeping me interested in what the band truly has to offer.
But there are other elements working in Gaza's favor, too. Amidst the churning density, the recording's pretty damn crisp and lets the bass presence make a good mark on the material, not to mention the fact that the drums sound pretty damn great, highlighting a strong performance that's one of the more consistently impressive attributes of the musicianship. And despite minor little issues, the layout looks pretty awesome. I'm loving the photography, that's for damn sure. 43 minutes may feel a bit steep in terms of the total running time, and the band hasn't quite mastered their attack, but I believe this is their first full-length outing, and it's still early. At its best, "I Don't Care Where I Go When I Die" really strikes gold (check 2:27 and beyond in "Hospital Fat Bags", that shit's god damn amazing), so I'm hoping for an increased balanced from the darker, more powerfully atmospheric side of Gaza's approach in the future, 'cause they could do some serious fuckin' damage—and already do!
Gaza "Hospital Fat Bags"
Gaza "Calf"
Make the grab if you're down:
Comments
wow… “dat shit’s ill as fuck”. whish the songs were a bit shorter, though, length can overkill it. that’s why that break in “hospital…” is so cool, love the blanace.
10.17.2006 | By Anonymous
I’ve been meaning to check this band out for a while. I guess its about time that I do.
10.17.2006 | By Tyrone
kickass.
10.17.2006 | By Anonymous
Cool song.
And I’ve just seen that you’ve bought the new Trivium. What do you think of it ? I got it today and was surprised at how catchy it was and how much they had evolved from Ascendency. This is a little bit too much on the pop side of things from time to time but still a very enjoyable listen.
10.17.2006 | By Hororo
Still can’t totally make up my mind on the Trivium disc, but I definitely don’t like it as much as “Ascendancy”. There are some amazing riffs and the solos are excellent, but the songwriting isn’t as strong to me, and the vocals definitely annoy the hell out of me at times. I don’t know why, I was never huge on their vocals anyway, but something about the vocals on the new one don’t seem to fit, and he’s really aping Hetfield in some ways, which I don’t care for. I listened to the disc about three times this weekend and just wasn’t thrilled with it, but I’m not 100% decided on it. I was fully expecting to be blown away, so I’m surprised, to say the least…
10.17.2006 | By Andrew Aversionline
I like what I hear. Sound a bit like Norma Jean’s Bless the Martyr to me.
Love the blog.
Mark O.
10.18.2006 | By KOSA_838
[...] I got turned on to Gaza by this post at Aversion Online. They sound sort of similar to Cave In and Converge, though they do revel in the discord and chaos a bit more than the other two, and of course that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Interpunk has one Gaza item, but it’s not the disc that “Hospital Fat Bags” is on (”I Don’t Care Where I Go When I Die”). [...]
12.5.2006 | By Chaos Theory at …betahat welcomes you…
The CD on Interpunk is the East EP that they released on a local label called Extingent Records, about two years ago.
12.13.2006 | By Alex