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/
