Gozu are one of the most exciting bands going right now on Ripple Music. The driving rhythms, tripped out vocals and crazed solos come together to form some thing that very much fits the aesthetic that Ripple has cultivated over the years. What Gozu understand that far too few of their peers bother with is the simple beauty that heavy music can have especially when stripped down to its core components. With Revival the band expands on their trademark organic sound which resonates across the ages, and invokes the sort of powerful, very human metal magic that so many of us have fallen in love with over the years. Listening to them stomp forward and use their music to cultivate something that is truly next level is encouraging, and speaks to the eternal power of rock and roll. Every song pulses powerfully, even through the occasionally meandering jam sections. It comes across as beautiful even and the resonating, domineering power that the band so easily invokes, using every crushing chord makes you fall ever deeper in love.
There is something strangely entrancing about Gozu. Especially in the way that they are able to turn stoner rocks trademark trudge into something more akin to a skip. This is a band who are able to take traditional tropes and evolve them into something greater. Gozu will stun you, not with the dankness of their riffs or the sheer quality of the vocals, but rather the way that it comes together. The passion behind the music is palatable, and the way that the band has taken traditional stereotypes on Revival and turned them into something far greater is endlessly impressive. Yet, Gozu is not always in your face, far too often the band is willing to step back, chill out and use some more Hawkwind-esque moments to capture the imaginations of the masses. This helps to cultivate that wonderfully organic sound that is easy to fall in love with and which will get you coming back, even if the music does start to feel a bit repetitive as the songs drag on. The sound of Revival is the sound of perseverance, after all its what happens when you have dudes who were willing to spend hours upon hours in the jam room and come out with something magical.
I almost have to wonder what would happen if Gozu could condense what they do. They certainly have a promising enough sound, it just occasionally feels like they get lost in their own jams. While on the one hand the meandering crunch of this band is refreshing it can also be more than a little frustrating and leave you wondering what the point is in the first place. Clearly these guys can play and the guitar harmonies, vicious solos and soaring vocals prove time and time again that this is a band who aren't going to fuck around. These guys have the skills to go far and I'm endlessly excited with the possibilities that they are hinting at. Another gem in the Ripple Music crown, chilling out and lighting on up has never felt better than with Revival.
Score: 7/10
