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Gollum: Lesser Traveled Waters

Gollum's Lesser Traveled Waters might just be one of the most unique metal CD's I have heard in quite some time. Sort of like a weird combination of death metal, stoner/doom metal, thrash, and a dose of psychedelic prog, the four fellows in this North Carolina band certainly get major points for doing something different, as the eleven tracks here of mostly instrumental brutality are chock full of more killer guitar riffs and grooves than most bands with twice the track record can muster.

You heard that right, this release is for the most part instrumental, save for a few tunes that have manic death metal growls, or psychedelic, fazed out narrations, as on the rampaging "Refusal of the Call." On that cut, guitarist Frank Stroehmer lays down some speedy and powerful riff-o-rama over the frenzied rhythm section of drummer Hunter Holland and bassist Serge Stroehmer. Josh Novicki adds all sorts of eerie keyboard and electronic soundscapes, as well as odd loops & samples throughout the CD, which gives the music a somewhat progressive and futuristic edge. His haunting, Mellotron-like waves counter the rampaging death metal assault of "Cross Pollenation", while "Amor Fati" features some atmospheric acoustic guitar textures that lead into the mighty "The Burden of Ubiquitous Scars", a song that is like a cross between Porcupine Tree and Slayer. Brutal guitar riffs meet chilling atmosphere on the intelligent instrumental "Reclamation of the Essence", a song with many moods and time changes, while "The Dissolution of Faith" is without a doubt the most progressive track on the CD. This four-part tune could have easily been a lost track off of Dream Theater's latest release, as it mixes churning guitar riffs with vast keyboard effects and intricate time signatures. Less interesting is the bands take on black metal with "Tears for a Finite Moon", complete with generic riffs and garbled vocals, but thankfully they redeem themselves with the mix of doom and technical metal on "Fall of Penitents" and the groove 'n' chunk of "Beyond the Storm."

Like I said earlier, there's more crunchy riffs here than you will find on most other metal releases. While I like the bands mixing of metal with electronica, I think they are still finding their own niche, and it will be interesting to see where they go from here. A great start guys!

Track Listing
1) Snakepath
2) Refusal of the Call
3) Cross-Pollentation
4) Amor Fati
5) The Burden of Ubiquitous Scars
6) Reclamation of the Essence
7) Absence of Seraphim
8) The Dissolution of Faith, Parts I-IV
9) Tears for a Finite Moon (Dreams of Perpetual Night)
10) Fall of Penitents
11) Beyond the Storm

Added: March 23rd 2004
Reviewer: Pete Pardo
Score:
Related Link: Gollum Website
Hits: 3064
Language: english

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