Gorod – Kiss The Freak Review

David Niven once said: "Keep the circus going inside you, keep it going, don't take anything too seriously, it'll all work out in the end." And hell, needless to say it did work out well for Gorod. The technical/prog death metal Frenchmen are back this year with a special EP, since they're touring with Havok, Exmortus and Warbringer. And as you well know, for special occasions, special stuff comes out. And what better than recording a thrash record for a thrash metal tour and releasing your EP on April Fools' day, right? The guys did so, disposing of only two months to get the whole job done. Obviously, if you haven't yet listened the new release you won't understand the use of bold, so just let me get there. You'll understand, in time.

It's a rule of life that to get better at something, exploring new horizons and setting yourself challenging objectives is a great way to improve, and among the most efficient. Well, I was very interested to find out what the new release of Gorod would sound like, a band that's been playing excellent technical death metal for ages. Now that I know, I am very impressed with their take on a different genre. To be very honest with you, just by seeing that cover art for the first time, I knew this was going to sound bloody fantastic. And rightly so, Being A Jerk" kicks off proving us this will be a fun, aggressive, fast, and vicious thrash record —and for instance, a short one. In addition, what makes this release an interesting one is for sure the virtuosity of the band members that adds up to the amazing and furious riffs with lots of technical leads here and there, which result in a splendid and brilliant outcome that reminds us the legendary music of Vektor (by the way, thou shalt give a go to their latest album). But obviously, the party ain't over yet and "Tony P. Shot's" intro reminds you so. Excellent drumming technique, with a cool groovy riffing build up instantly followed by the typical aggressiveness that a decent thrash record is supposed to deliver. So far the two first songs follow a simple thrash scheme but a bloody efficient one. Because this is what this release is all about, delivering efficiency in a limited time of two fucking months. So far, so good.

We have to keep in mind that given the little amount of time and the challenge of going through "unknown" territory is an important factor to consider while reviewing this. Obviously we can't say that the band members are unfamiliar with the genre, because every metalhead that respect themselves know how thrash metal sounds. But that doesn't mean it was an easy process, and that regardless of the genre you're playing to be fair. But getting back to the topic, the execution here is pretty impressive and phenomenal. This sounds like a Gorod release without it being a typical Gorod release —hoping you get what I mean. And how did I not mention the vocals yet? I certainly deserve to be hanged. Julien "Nutz" Deyres' vocals fit perfectly well in the music without anything feeling weird about it, really. Good job here by the man, whom helps giving to the record a rawness that isn't necessarily present in the production because it simply doesn't need it.

Now with all of that being said, the problem that Kiss The Freak encounters is its redundancy. It's not annoying, it's not a huge flaw, but it's nonetheless something that needs to be pointed out. The two following tracks, "Anise Power" and "Lost in Osaka" (I wish I was) respectively, do not really bring a fresh breath of air. You'd say it's the point of thrash, but with such talented artists you'd expect this to sound a bit more "unexpected" and less homogeneous. But then again you won't see me complaining that much about it since we could perfectly say that this release wasn't meant to be a "serious" one, but just the band messing around and having fun. And hell, you can tell they did have fun. 

At this point, I think that the band could make any genre sound as good as their technical and sophisticated music does. Kiss The Freak certainly puts to shame most part of the current thrash scene by itself, and Gorod proved us that they can experiment with another genre and still sound truly great, even after twenty years of career. So the next time someone tells you that time is an excuse for a band to start sounding horrible, make them listen to some Gorod. Pretty sure they'll change their minds. Because yeah, we tend to forget and neglect the fact that the band has been around for so many years. And they know what this is all about, because they've proven it. Again. 

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.