The Gersch : The Gersch
The movement to keep classic heavy metal significant today is in the hands of bands like Valient Thorr, Fu Manchu, and Converge, making modern guitar kinescopes with blaring intonations similar to the grandfathers of metal from the `70s. The Gersch join this clique bringing voltaic metal similar Uriah Heep, Mountain, and UFO with their self-titled release. Their self-titled album, a compilation of songs taken from their discography which spans the past ten years, produces a triple guitar grind by band members Justin Sosnovski, Graham Hick, and B. Clifford Meyer along with drummer Jonathan Ruhe.
The album opens with “Listwish,” deeply drenched in ’70s style guitar spirals and coulees racking up haunting dark tones and vocals that skim across the music like a séance reading. The dark torrents in the guitar spins on “Magnificent Desolution” induce a Black Sabbath-like echo. The guitar riffs have hard edges and a nostalgic tone of the ’70s. Tunes like “Face” and “Bloodbottom” release waves of aggression in the guitar layers and firm drum loops, piercing and locking into each other.
The spacey atmosphere on “Taker” harkens a crucible of mashing guitar spills and ramps of drum beats. The heavy metal ambience on “Face Pt. 2” has a likeness to Lacuna Coil’s tones. Their track “Taekr” is the most impressive concentrating on the progressions and arcs of the guitars rising and deflating like a classical symphony. The trance-dichotomy in the motions, circling, expanding and heightening along crisp drum strikes morph into a vibrantly versed arrangement. The final track “Your Lips Are No Man’s Land But Mine” moves the vocals along the rhythmic arroyos while the guitars tense and release methodically, and the drums keep steady in the vacillating actions of the guitars.
The Gersch has put together an album that is but a mere snippet of their complete catalog. Yet, clearly they are keeping the ball of classic heavy metal rolling and building enough momentum to keep its flame significant in the present.
Similar Albums:
Kyuss – Sky Valley
Valient Thorr – Legend Of The World
Converge – You Fail Me