Gyze – Fascinating Violence (Coroner Records)
Wednesday, 28th August 2013
Interesting to hear the Japanese take on melodic death metal – it’s not like the American one, you can bank on that. These bands (Blood Stain Child, Evilchoir, and Gyze) tend to eschew major reliance on Gothenburg, aiming a sound that’s more futuristic, like you’re sucked into a video game and this is the soundtrack. Or something like that. What you won’t find, though, are beatdowns, wimpy clean vocals, and the routine poaching of Slaughter of the Soul. On their Fascinating Violence debut, Gyze keep it pretty clean, and in the process, go down in a storm.
The band was originally formed under the Suicide Heaven moniker, but underwent a name change when they relocated from Sapporo to Tokyo. Given the fast-paced, mile-a-minute landscape of that city, one could understand if Gyze were influenced by it. The melodies are somewhat Bodom-like (see: “Desire” and “Regain”), but they’re smooth and perky, perhaps along the lines Mors Principium Est before they bottomed-out more recently. While jams like “Final Revenge” and “Trigger of the Anger” tend to favor buoyant, near-saccharine guitar lines, it is glowing synth work on the title track and “A Dynasty” (clean vocals are present here) that emerge as numbers worth staking a claim in.
In the event one has soured on the endless renditions and rewrites of the usual subjects in which to idea-harvest (At the Gates, In Flames, etc.), a band like Gyze can fill that vacuum. Fascinating Violence has some seriously sleek songs, some of which that are perhaps a bit too polished for a good portion of bangers, yet if melody and hyper metal is your bag, then look no further.
