Gory Blister – Reborn from Hatred (Eclipse Records)
Friday, 15th September 2023
Active since 1991, Italian technical death metal trio Gory Blister show no signs of deceleration when it comes to musically enticing material for this latest album Reborn from Hatred. Receiving stellar reviews over the course of their three decades plus discography, as well as tours/festival appearances with Sadus, Darkane, Entombed, Obituary, and Cynic to name a few, its been five years since the last full-length 1991.Bloodstained on Mighty Music. The transition to Eclipse Records should not diminish the impact of this hard-hitting effort – packing a massive wallop in its eleven tracks that barely clip past the thirty-minute mark.
The eight main vocal-led tracks are spread out against the three brief instrumental offerings – “From Ashes…” giving off a darker synthwave atmosphere to sort of ease the listener into the gallop-oriented progressive riff volleys/blasting to mid-tempo slamming drum measures for “Push out the Venom”, the stacked rhythms of Raff Sangiorgio (beyond his bass/synth duties) mesmerizing against some tranquil clean or shredding lead break workload. Amidst the natural technical death parts, the three-piece always make sure to create some catchy, melodic death/groove elements similar to older Carcass, Arch Enemy or At the Gates, providing the right earworm balance to give “Unexpected Livings” and “Greedy Existence” that extra level of memorability. John St. John as a vocalist possesses the perfect growl to scream ratios in a sinister bellow that is quite clear for a band of this magnitude – “Relentless Fear” and “Signs from Beyond” two great examples of his versatile command to send chills in the mix, the former containing tasty guitar tapping next to blitzkrieg, speed picking measures. Self-produced by drummer Gianluca D’Andria and Raff, the combination of clarity next to the depth of instrumentation/heaviness present is quite remarkable – as to not overwhelm the listener given the musical information on display.
For those unfamiliar with Gory Blister, Reborn from Hatred would be an excellent starting point if you want a great synthesis of their melodic death meets technical death driven style. They certainly deserve accolades for a relentless passion for their craft and should meet with plenty of approval for those into this genre.
