Review Summary: Instrumental/progressive/experimental rock at its finest.
The long-awaited first album of Canadian experimental/prog/instrumental death metal rock band
Gatling has been released fully to the public. Or, should I say, it has been unleashed. Gatling comes bursting out of the gates with an album which sets out to find every conventional rule of mainstream rock/metal music, and then break it, smash it, and set it on fire. Even the front cover of the album ignores the norm.
Each song on the album is a completely different soundscape. Some are heavy, some are soft, some are scary, some are relaxing. It's the great variation that keeps the album fresh. The album starts off with the shredfest known as Nihilanth. It has been re-recorded from the original Resonance Cascade demo, and it's even better. It starts off with a riff that builds for 2 minutes, almost as if you are going up a ridiculously long hill on a roller coaster. Then, there is a quick bass solo, warning you that some guitar madness is about to come up. Just a short little interlude, and you are off. Harmonic soloing, fast strumming, and loads of distortion make this a virtuosic guitar piece.
The next track, Space, begins with the sounds of spaceships flying by, and kicks into a straight up space rock jam. Killer bassline and a neat little solo make this a cool little song. Just as you are expecting the pace to stay slow, Grayscale, the next track, slams you forward, with another insane guitar solo. After the epic Resonance Cascade, four quick and heavy grindcore-style songs shove their way into the picture.
Although some would believe that these very short songs would signal an end to the album, they would be incredibly wrong, and would be missing out on the killer second half. Carnival Bistro, despite its strange name, is a nice experimental piece. The most proggy song on the album is next: Hen in a Pumpkin. Incredible soloing at the beginning, plus killer drums make this another technically impressive track.
Three softer, more relaxing tracks, The Decision That Was Never Made, Rocks Don't Make Noise, and B
await before the grand finale: The Weighted Companion Cube. All the directions, all of the avenues, all of the soundscapes that Gatling explored on Hen in a Pumpkin are showcased to great effect on this final track. It's the epic ending to the incredible first album from a brilliant experimental rock band.
