Gorevent - Fate

Angry Metal Guy 60

In popular music, the West Coast is known for the smooth, extravagant, and maximal productions of Dr. Dre, while the East Coast is known for the grimy, gritty, and dusty productions of Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA. I prefer the latter, and when it comes to slam, travelling further East gets me the grotesquery I crave. The first record of the Russian Abominable Putridity is a landmark in ignorant, filthy slam, and the Czech slam fiends Epicardiectomy have a firm handle on grisly brutality. Even when it’s relatively cleaner in production (such as Certainly Demented, Traumatomy, or Disfigurement of Flesh – all Russian), these Sons of Eastern Slamming bring a knack for aural pummeling that still has a regional X-factor that’s all but missing in our “global world.” When I want the to mainline some slam sewage, heading East is the safest bet.

Japan’s Gorevent, naturally, is a band I like to keep an eye on. I’m used to hearing them on splits like the wonderful World Wide Slamicide and Cannons of Gore Soaked, Blood Drenched, Parasitic Sickness to the point where it’s almost weird to hear more than four songs of the band consecutively. Fate is eight tracks and under thirty minutes of repugnant caveman slam, more simplistic than even Cerebral Incubation’s material, and they coined that term. There’s a heavy death metal influence here, primarily from Gorevent’s excellent countrymen Coffins but also from Obituary’s The End Complete. There also aren’t any samples, and Gorevent instead opts for the smarter Darkthrone strategy of leaving significant gaps of silence between tracks (although not eight seconds long as on Transylvanian Hunger). This is worthwhile for bands who have a singular artistic vision and keep the tempo consistent to drive the point home. Vocally, I’m reminded of Chris Barnes’ disgusting performance on Butchered at Birth in a positive way.

This consistent artistic vision leads to a record which is clearly intended to be a holistic experience instead of one with a clear standout song or few. Cerebral Incubation records have a similar style, except they use an abundance of ridiculous samples to give each song a personality. Fate is a churning, slamming mass of riffs, gurgles, and drums that are reluctant to blast for any significant length of time. In this it may remind of beatdown hardcore, but it’s swampy instead of thuggish, and the vocals are gurgled instead of shouted. Gorevent’s music is also predictable in a beneficial way: they structure their songs so that they telegraph when a riff which sounds like an angry gorilla figured out how to wield Mjolnir is going to hit you¹. This means the songs are structured in a sensible way and don’t seek attention by jarring, unearned transitions.

Gorevent’s caveman slamming style means that no riff on Fate couldn’t be played by someone who’s been playing guitar somewhat consistently for a year. Nonetheless, writing good lumbering, slamming, pounding riffs this consistently isn’t easy, as everything Gorevent is doing is set out in plain sight and thus cannot hide behind technicality, production tricks, or elaborate instrumentation. Fate is honest about what it wants to do from the outset, and proceeds to do that and only that for its duration. Realistically, then, the prospective listener will know within one minute of opening number “Confront” whether Fate is for them. If you’re not moved at all by the doomy, Coffins-esque chug which leads into a mid-tempo pummeling with well-placed gurgles, the rest of Gorevent’s material here will be lost on you.

It’s tough to find this type of slam nowadays, and Gorevent provides more quality material in that nice little niche which Abominable Putridity definitively ceased to inhabit on The Anomalies of Artificial Origin. Fate is not a dead ringer for In the End of Human Existence in sound but is a kindred spirit, sounding like a head-on collision between two bulldozers. While the style is to my liking, the substance doesn’t disappoint, but nonetheless remains steadfastly in the “good” range. A lack of standout riffs but no shortage of solid ones makes Fate a quintessential good record. Fate’s production is a no-frills affair, which suits the stripped-down nature of the music well. It sounds like a few guys got together and recorded an album as close to live as possible which, in the age of hyper-produced slam and slamming deathcore aping Ingested’s debut, is a treat. Time is used efficiently here as well, making fate deal me another spin of Fate rather frequently.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Comatose Music
Website: facebook.com/Goreventofficial
Releases Worldwide: February 7th, 2020

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