Day: November 25, 2016

Second ep for Grodek from Abruzzo, a really interesting band that moves in the balance between melodic death and doom in a manner, always maintaining an enviable balance between the various components of the sound. This short test, titled Downfall Of Time (which makes use, on the cover, of a beautiful photograph by Francesco Delli Benedetti), binds in an even more explicit way to the concept that lies at the base of the work of the four guys from Vasto, namely to “sing the decadence, emptiness and mud of our reality, transforming anxiety and horror in aesthetic experience“. A way to define their music intriguing and certainly challenging, but it must be said that the sound of Grodek does not deny this declaration of intent, the four songs, in fact, are quite nervous and pervaded by a certain restlessness and, having to find a possible reference to frame the musical nuances proposed, I would say that, especially in From The Fog I Rose and Time And Black Tides, the first name that comes to mind are the Novembers Doom. I’ve always thought that Paul Kuhr’s band is quite underrated, even if it’s the creator of a peculiar and recognizable sound: the fact that Grodek somehow reminds them, in Matteo Colantonio’s vocal style and in several sound solutions, is certainly a positive factor that should not make you think of the content of Downfall Of Time as something derivative, it’s simply normal for a band at its first releases to remember, even unconsciously, others already known. The fact remains that, in these 25 minutes, Grodek‘s artistic design already finds its own partial realization, because in addition to the two aforementioned tracks, Naiade and The Pale Dame also convincingly display the robustness of death plots and the touch of dramatic doom inevitability. An excellent test for a band that seems to have all the cards in order to try the adventure on long distance, because it is clear the feeling that this is just the beginning of a musical journey far from banal.

2017 – Independent