Górgona - Górgona (2024)

★★★★

I’d known of these guys for a little bit, but never really gave them much attention since, to my knowledge, all they had out was a few singles over the past few years. As fate would have it, I’d stumble upon their record announcement and figured I’d give it a go. Going in completely blind and having no context for this band or what they’d sound like, I came out flying the flag of heavy metal thunder. It’s a raw recording, with a real whiney yet sick guitar tone, fat rhythm parts, NWOBHM-esque leads, and some very passionate vocals. It reminds me a lot of mid-1980s European heavy/power metal, with a great ratio of riffs to melody, something that was very commonplace at that time. And to be completely transparent, if I were none the wiser and you put this album on, I’d probably pin it for being released around that time period, maybe ‘85 or ‘86. It just has that certain quality about it that I find so cool and enjoyable, especially when so many modern trad bands are hyper-focused on clean production and album length over writing quality tunes. In short, if you’re looking for a new fun heavy metal album, I’d suggest not skipping over this!

FAVORITE TRACKS: “Abracadabra,” “Under the Spell,” “Tell Tale Heart”

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Originally published in April '24 (Issue No. 3)