Black metal meets Southern Rock & sludge on the latest from French miscreants Glorior Belli. Let's be honest, Gators Rumble, Chaos Unfurls is a damn bizarre listen, as these guys seem torn in different directions but obviously wanting to come up with something unique, which in a way they kind of seem to have accomplished that feat. Imagine a meeting of Darkthrone, Motorhead, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Neurosis...well, sort of. "Wolves at My Door" sees black metal styled raspy vocals meeting up with sludge laden riffs, while "Ain't No Pit Deep Enough" offers up plenty of swampy Down/Skynyrd/Crowbar/Blackfoot guitar thunder to go along with those ragged vocals. "From one Rebel to Another" shows plenty of promise as a crankin' Southern Rock tune, but man, those vocals just don't fit. And there lies my main gripe with Gators Rumble, Chaos Unfurls; this could have been a really cool Southern Rock/stoner album, as there are plenty of cool riffs and grooves here that make for a hell of a foundation. The drums however are way too low in the mix, to the point that half the time you barely even know they are there, and the vocals, while good for a black metal or brutal sludge album, just don't seem to fit with these songs. I'd love for Glorior Belli to cut back on the raspy vocals and give us something more conventional, as the arrangements, song titles & lyrics just seem to scream that these Frenchies really just want to be a good time heavy Southern Rock band. As it is, this is a decent album that could have been so much better, and just comes across as a tad schizophrenic.
Track Listing
1. Blackpowder Roars
2. Wolves At My Door
3. Ain't No Pit Deep Enough
4. A Hoax, A Croc!
5. From One Rebel To Another
6. I Asked For Wine, He Gave Me Blood
7. The South Will Always Know My Name
8. Le Blackout Blues
9. Backwoods Bayou
10. Built For Discomfort
11. Gators Rumble, Chaos Unfurls