Pathing their way through overcast introspective despair and personal abysm Cavaso Del Tomba, Italy-based black metal duo GORRCH convey surreal sojourn beyond severe existential dread on this much anticipated sophomore full-length album. Though their core ouevre should be familiar to dissonant and avant-garde black metal fandom alike the band’s efforts on ‘Stillamentum‘ prove riveting for their perilous dance between anxious tension and eerily hymnal accompaniment, frenzied attacks upon the psyche which are just as quickly given to fatalistic calm through chanted-down relief. The effect is both impressive and maddening in its heightened focus, despair riddled actions which foment a stirring of the skull’s humours into descent and restless dissolution.

Gorrch formed back in 2010-2011 by way of two brothers who’d been involved in death metal band Inverted (later Inverted Matter) around that same time and have since been a part of number of other notable projects (Strix, Tenebrae in Perpetuum, et al.) in the years since. Generally regarded as a “dissonant” black metal band in style their work has been chaotic in voice from the start though their was a progression from the sort of ‘orthodox’ raw, cold volatility of their self-titled EP (‘Gorrch‘, 2013) and its likely Norwegian inspiration toward a far more challenging sound that’d ramped with each release. Their debut LP (‘Nera Estasi‘, 2015) would crank the speed doubly into a mania-enriched statement expanding upon raw and classicist riff ideas while incorporating a variety of vocal expression that’d included almost hymnal pulse to many of the album’s key pieces (re: “Crudo Primordio”).

That first wave of output from the band was energetic, cutting work with some satisfying severity to its attack but the release that’d set expectations going forward wouldn’t arrive ’til five years later with the mind-boggling ‘Introvertere‘ EP in 2020. Those four songs were undeniable per their guitar work, towing the line somewhere between the sluice of high-rate activity a la Ad Nauseam, Aosoth and the more experimental swiping of Thantifaxath or even Serpent Column but expressed via the rugged and clangorous needling the duo had brought on earlier releases. It was a skill-up, a clear sign they’d put a lot of work into technique in the five years between releases… thusly building expectations for this new album at the same magnitude of growth.

‘Stillamentum‘ continues along the path of irrational violence in conveyance of anxiety, heightened physical tremors of existential dread which’re once again authored via blitzed discordant waves. That is to say that the avant-black edge and furor Gorrch had expressed on ‘Introvertere‘ not only persists just as cleverly on this latest LP but the band find points of exaggeration which are pulled from past characteristics. The most immediate example comes via the hymnal chants found in the periphery of past releases now finding strong feature throughout the whole album from opener “Nimbus” to closer “Phlegma” each benefitting from the eerie qualities of this communal voice. “Nimbus” in particular should impress for its riffcraft and play on rhythms, Portal-esque scaling tempo included, as the first impression really is the biggest dent these folks made on the first pass.

Though I don’t know that I’d heard as much Deathspell Omega inspired guitar work as others on Gorrch‘s previous releases this time around songs like “Larv” have a sort of quasi-‘Drought‘ era clang to some of their techniques which I’d admired quite a bit. The song itself is a whirring drone which transforms into something largely atmospheric as it dirges on yet an interruptive, highly technique spiking occurs throughout which I’d found myself looking forward to on successive listens. At the very least I’d say they’ve delivered material on par with their 2020 EP in terms of guitar work and complex yet constantly reeling composition. This lightning struck level of technique featured alongside a brief hit of their chanted vocal technique at the end of the song helps it to stand out in mind and provide an overall well-representative piece for those looking to angle into this sound.

From that mid-point on the full listen ‘Stillamentum‘ doesn’t necessarily lose momentum but rather falls into a rhythmic rut, or, skull-gripping channeling of this particular voicing spent within the efforts of the main rhythm guitar wrangling. Stepping from “Crypt” to Angor” blurs both pieces into too-similar atmospheric movements despite increasingly subtle details where a lead guitar swell here and a hymnal challenge there amount to very similar impact. This’ll be a boon for some ears and a bane for others but for my taste Side B doesn’t really live up to the first half of the album until closer “Phlegma” throws at least a few wrenches into the rhythm section and breaks away from the greater drone of the full listen for its final chapter.

Any fan of dissonant guitar work and moderately technical avant-garde black metal should appreciate this extension of Gorrch‘s 2020 breakthrough as the end result is unique in voice if not repetitious in its heated thrum. As a work of psychic tension, guitar thrashing clangor and strangely monastic hum there is some great mind-altering effect when sitting with ‘Stillamentum‘ for repeated listens. Despite the overall familiarity of their greater components this second album from the band manages to stick in mind for the gestural nuance and finer details afforded its whipped-at modus. A moderately high recommendation.

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