Saturday 1 November 2014

Godchilla - Cosmatos (Album Review)


Album Type: Full-Length
Release Date: 19/09/2014
Label: Melur Records

Cosmatos’ CD/DD track listing:

1).Back Home (In My Hut In The Swamp)
2). Montag The Magnificent
3). Cosmatos
4). Kickin' It On The Curb
5). Milliheimafasi
6). Sorfao Fyrir Satan
7). Hovering Castle, Purple Sky
8). Close To The Beyond/Hypnopolis

Godchilla is:

Syrgir Digurljón | Bassi og raddir
Hjaltasar Kormákur | Gítar og rödd
Úr Höskunni í Uldinn | Trommur


Review:

Strange journeys await as you delve into the compelling oddness of Godchilla’s fantastic debut full-length “Cosmatos.” This trio from Reykjavik has self-styled themselves surf-sludge and this is an accurate but not entirely perfect description of what awaits. A surf influence there is, but I detect a not so small amount of Ennio Morricone spaghetti western flavour that permeates some of the non-distorted tracks. However as much fun it is to refer to something as “slurf” or “spaghetti sludge”, it belittles the sonic achievement Godchilla has produced with “Cosmatos.”

“Cosmatos” touches on so many different genres and not just the aforementioned surf/sludge/spaghetti western, there is a bit of punk/Jesus Lizard in the vocals with some of the heaviest fuzz guitar tones you'll ever hear outside of Boris, not to mention the brief but fantastic slide guitar work on the opening track. Mix-wise “Cosmatos” is as close to perfect as is possible, everything is clearly defined and audible throughout. The vocals sit perfectly in the mix and the guitar soloing pops as it should. It sounds great on headphones and even better in the car.

Despite this being their first full-length, the songwriting here feels like a band just hitting their stride. Everything flows and there are a lot of eclectic and fun choices like the transition from the first to second tracks, going from a swampy blues to a strange sample right into some hardcore punk fury. Not to mention the incredibly strange but fantastic “Hovering Castle, Purple Sky” which moves through sections like a grand movie score. This track in particular has a heavy Western feel and the drumming throughout the track is really fun to listen to and is almost bouncy as it pushes through the songs changes.

This is one of the coolest albums I've heard in awhile, just a really fun listen, very strange throughout and it should be approached with an open mind as it doesn't really sit on any one genre but it is definitely heavy, and despite the other influences this is unquestionably sludgy. Check it out below.

Words by: Chris Tedor

You can stream and download the record here 




For more information:
https://godchillah.bandcamp.com/