Review: Gospel Of The Future ‘Blowtorch Mankind’
Gospel Of The Future have been considered one of the heaviest and loudest sludge metal acts from the Czech underground. Through their uncompromising sound, live and on record, they built themselves a name within the metal and stoner scene, and after eight long years split up, the band are now returning with their third album Blowtorch Mankind.
From the first moment of the song The Ant Hill Kids, it’s quite clear: These guys know what the hell they’re doing. The first thought that comes to mind is: ‘Naaaaaaasty!’ as my headphones try to vibrate right off my head from the intensity of this ear splitting crushdom. Sound is dense like a brick cake! This thing is thick is what I’m telling you! Further along this song there’s some wacky guitar sounds (is that a guitar?) proving different textures can be delivered among the blasts of distortion.
Chanted lyrics stand on this pulpit of distortion upheld by Ales Meduna on drums and Jiri Kos on bass. It’s the voice of a man accused of madness for telling the truth in an apocalyptic world. Another character that accompanies our journey through the album is invoked in the tasteful guitar work of Lukas Benesovsky and Jiri Ultra Spurny. The expressivity of the vocals by Spurny is an essential element to carry the songs forward, and the intention across. This is music of damnation, of the end, of madness and death.
Blood Throne launches into a captivating groove and haunting melodies, what more could one ask for? The epic evil in these lyrics smacks even harder over these mammoth riffs. The song grows gargantuan as it treads on a riff path. As it winds down, we’re offered a hit of extra modulation on the guitar, to set our vibes right.
Gospel Of The Future’s sound is a solid wall, a dense substance nothing could possibly penetrate…
The third track, Stigmata, is a somewhat more frenetic jam that I’m convinced would be great fuel for some insane pit action. The sound of the band is given free reign to deliver full on ferocity on this one, and it deserves to be let out of its cage more often!
The slow power of the extensive closer, Pharmaka Lugra, is fit for a not slowly headbang challenge. Gospel Of The Future’s sound is a solid wall, a dense substance nothing could possibly penetrate. If you were looking for something that had a sound that might feel like mud running down your throat, this is the sludge you were looking for. Tastes so good, you’ll want to choke on some more!
The album art features the work of Marald van Haasteren who does a great job of capturing the music’s narrative visually, enriching the experience by giving faces to the characters within the album and its lyrics, which tell of some insane time, perhaps the past, present or future, it’s hard to tell.
Blowtorch Mankind is coming out February 18th, 2022 on LP and digital streaming platforms through Kabinet Records, with cassettes coming as well in collaboration with Vřesová Studánka and Filth Junkies Records, and also on CD on February 22nd through Epidemie Records.
Label: Kabinet Records | Vřesová Studánka | Filth Junkies Records | Epidemie Records
Band Links: Bandcamp | Instagram
Scribed by: Goro Riffs
