Gorod – The Orb
Release Date: 7th March 2023
Label: Self-Released
Bandcamp
Genre: Technical Death Metal
FFO: Obscura, First Fragment, Rings of Saturn.
Review By: Andy Spoon
Bordeaux, France is the land of beautiful scenery, wine, and Tech Death kings Gorod, who will release their 7th major LP, The Orb, on March 7th. Mixing influences from across the death metal world, The Orb feels like a flex on all other Death Metal acts, grabbing others’ styles and executing them better, with tighter licks, and integrating them into even better tracks. Fans of Obscura and Rings of Saturn absolutely CANNOT miss this album in 2023.
From the very first split second of the album, I was able to tell the Gorod’s new album, The Orb, was no-nonsense. At very few times, if any, was I even close to rolling my eyes at some self-righteous showoff riff, horror-sound interlude, or slow, rumbling/building 90-second first track that ends up sounding exactly like every other extreme metal intro track on the scene in the last 20 years (perhaps you might tell that I’m a little over that trope). Gorod never seemed to be one of the bands who engaged in the “trendy” scene gimmicks, anyway. As soon as you press play, get ready. You’re about to get thrown into a storm that reminds me of that nasty Haboob in Mad Max: Fury Road. Just plug those headphones in and buckle up.
One of the hallmarks of The Orb (delineating from everything else that Gorod has produced in the last 26 years) is that you’re never going to get smashed in the face for a solid four minutes on any track. This was something that I was in awe over when I listened to An Abstract Illusion’s last album, Woe. Gorod chops up each song into what feels like 20–30 segments of musical phrases and breakdowns (not in the “core” sense, but in reference to the musical structure), giving the listener an absolute cacophony of face-melting variation which draws from several non-rock genres. The band claims they want to include elements of jazz, R&B, electronic, etc. I think that they have several moments of those elements across the album.
One of my favorite moments was the breakdown on We Are The Sun Gods, which uses some of the fun, dissonant fret-tapping that is so overused in today’s prog music. Against the grain, this actually sounds like it is part of the song and not just a masturbatory solo. E.g., the song uses it, deviates from it, then incorporates the breakdown instead of being built around it (This is a subtle dig at people who can’t stop the stupid guitar fret tapping *cough Polyphia *cough). I was very impressed at the composition level of these techniques across the album. I spent the entire listen just squinting my eyes in bliss, as the “guitar god” moments were just so satisfying.
If I had to give a complaint on the album, it was that there might have only been a couple of moments across the album that were really memorable, or something that I felt the need to spin again. That’s not to say that I need catchy hooks or riffs that make me keep coming back. I just wish there were a few more moments that grabbed me on a cheap, basic, even plebeian level. That isn’t something that I ever thought I’d hope for, but here we are. Overall, The Orb is a fantastic example of being able to put together an album that shows the younger crowd how it’s done in the technical death world while keeping a classic band super-relevant into the future. 
(4 / 5)
