by: Frank Godla
This past Wednesday night I was faced with a dilemma that surprisingly doesn't happen often: two great shows in the same city going down at the same exact time. On one hand, NYC saw the return of reunited Gorguts, which is an epic no-brainer for some. However I'm glad I didn't attend, because I would have missed what would be one of the greatest live sets I've seen in years by Metal Injection favorite, Gorod.
Locked in a freezing basement on the hottest night of the year so far, with only a handful of people who were pumped to see Jesus Crost, Rompeprop and Gorod, there wasn't a shred of doubt in my mind where I wanted to be. While both Jesus Crost and Rompeprop were great additions to the bill, the main attraction for me was certainly Gorod from France. We've been following this band for a few years now and had the privilege of filming them once before on their first and only U.S show. Since then, the band has upgraded to an even more ridiculous drummer, released one of our favorite records of 2009, and are now back in the states for 3 shows.
Having the opportunity to only see this band once before on a larger stage, nothing would prepare me for the intimate setting of Gorod performing in Fontana's basement. I was PUMPED to say the least. Inches away, I was practically at eye level with the band who were on "stage." It was an absolute awe inspiring performance from a band that gives the likes of The Faceless and Necrophagist a run for their money. Unlike most tech death bands that get a bad rap for lacking showman ship, Gorod pushes their live performance to another level. Mastering the art of artistically cramming every note on a fretboard into a single song is no easy task, but doing so while moving around and hyping up the crowd is a whole new rare beast for a band of this genre. At one point of the set I looked around the room to find most of the crowd literally standing with their jaws dropped.
Don't take my word for it though, do yourself a big favor and see this band in your lifetime. If you haven't gotten into them yet, then seriously put it at the top of your to do list immediately, you wont be sorry.
I had the chance to speak with the band before and after the set (they speak little English so this was mostly gestures and guesses) where they confirmed upon returning home from this current tour they will be wrapping up their new EP, which is to be released sometime this summer. Check out this clip of their drummer Sam tracking the EP below, and someone bring them back to the states!
