Review Summary: Unique Death/Doom Metal
The Gardnerz returns after a successful debut with a brilliant EP titled ‘It All Fades’. This band has taken the mid-90s era of Death/Doom Metal and turned it on its head with its improvisations and innovations. It’s no longer the one-dimensional Death/Doom Metal – here you have the genre-bending scope with unconventional riffing, myriad vocal patterns including offbeat and unexpected female vocals such as for the Darkthrone cover, which is of the acoustic type.
A self-conscious band wouldn’t dare do something like that, which is why they’ll never reach the acclaim this band would get. They’ll remain in the underground, being all too aware of their “kvlt” image and languish there without ever seeing the light of the day, so to speak. The Gardnerz is confident of its bold steps, venturing into territories few bands would dare. The way it has mixed crushing Death Metal riffing with charming ‘90s Doom and even Traditional Doom elements is laudable.
The songs are long without seeming so and hardly repetitive – which is what makes The Gardnerz special. It all seems like an ever-interesting and engrossing journey laden with surprises and drama, which this band revels in. I prefer when the band indulges in playing more subtle melodies than in-your-face Death Metal parts as they are more touching and effective in their expression.
Littered with nature pictures, the album is presented very well, especially the cover artwork made by Daniel Johnsson. The production is immaculate with the right heaviness and tone and the vocals are diverse giving the emphasis on the right feeling – the backing vocals by Paulina Strihavka on the title track are breathtaking. That and the album on a whole are highly memorable and the tunes repeat themselves in your head well after the CD stops spinning. A seamless integration of both the genres would see this band expand on its noteworthy sound masterminded by Wilhelm Lindh and as such ‘It All Fades’ is one of the best releases to come out from this genre in recent memory.
