Sunandmoonrecords - 2021
6.5/10
I always leap at discovering something that combines black, death, and doom metal. Hybrid genres, especially taking foundations of three, have the potential to yield a lot. This combo in particular usually takes on the heaviest, and most crushing approach there is with the extremes of each one’s intricacies displayed at full power. Slowed, blast beat-ridden downtuned riffs? Are they gonna shriek, howl, or use guttural vocals? Gargoyle is an interesting one that sorta breaks all of these habits. Much like the cartoonish artwork, Hail To The Necrodoom is a bit more accessible than you’d picture.
Instead of dragging everything to the most grotesque extremes, the Italian outfit tones-back each influence to the more tame end of each genre. It’s still pretty crushing, but there’s a constant shift between traditional doom riffing, and blasting rhythms that take shelter in death metal tones. Moreover, the vocals are also swapped between monster-like gutturals, and cartoony howls to give a cadence of horror. The higher leads also tend to add in some extra wankery, crossing degraded solos with thunderous blast beats. In other words, the bottom ingredients are ferocious, while the top ones fly around to give the listener some breathing room.
That said, I do think Hail To The Necrodoom feels awkward at times because of it. There is a way to blend these ideas without it being an unlovable, cavernous void of hell, but some things contrast just a little bit too much in this instance. Seldom do vocals play a large part of my takes, but I have a hell of a time digesting them, especially the ones that lean towards the doom howl that sounds more frightened than frightening; they hurt this more than I’d like to admit. The mix of harsh guitars and higher leads playing the same sequence is a nice touch, such as in “Where Evil Spawns,” but this kind of balance is rare throughout the entire runtime. I even appreciate the use of what I call “classic horror flick” organs, but again, molding into a strong song is a weakness.
Gargoyle have themselves a really solid foundation that just feels disjointed, and their vocal style is one that I personally struggle with tremendously. I suppose the bad vocals do fit the aesthetic, but that aesthetic has its own shortcomings. Regarding riffs, general feelings of terror, and ideas, there’s definitely something to be realized. From what I can gather, I reckon it isn’t the type of release to take too seriously. Otherwise, strap on your spooky shoes and go for a nice walk in the dark.
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