The album that deserves to see the band moving on to bigger things…
Review by Dan Perks
Self-Released
Release date: 17 August 2015
So, while many of the heavy metal community were moshing about at Bloodstock Festival this weekend I was listening to the monstrous new album by Midlands metal gents Gehtika. For those of you unfamiliar with Gehtika, picture a combination of suits, corpse paint, black/death metal and slightly tongue in cheek theatrics. Having played the Sophie stage at Bloodstock in 2014, Gehtika are back with A Monster In Mourning. This 11-track album is crammed to bursting with up-tempo drums and guitars, Scandinavian black metal vocals and the odd touch of synth and keys.
The album opens with a dark looming piano heavy intro called ‘Apollyon’. This intro is the build up to the approaching storm, like staring out of the window and watching black rain clouds rolling in. Guitars and drums begin to creep in moments before the explosive ‘One Night Seven Sins’ bursts into life. ‘One Night Seven Sins’ is a bruiser of a track, packed with tremolo picking, bass-heavy grooves and frantic drumming. Tracks like ‘Empire In Decay’ and ‘Shepherd of Erebus’ also show how well produced the album is. The production enables this sense of darkness to linger over every riff, every scream. It’s a strange contrast as there is a small level of jovial theatrics hidden within the ferocious, looming, murky darkness.
A Monster in Mourning is a relentless collection of black/death metal tinged bangers. From beginning to end the goal is clearly to be as fast and as heavy as possible, and it easily succeeds with this. With a resemblance to the likes of Dimmu Borgir, Fleshgod Apocalypse and even The Black Dahlia Murder, A Monster In Mourning fuses classic black metal with some more modern twists. I can honestly say I haven’t been this captivated by a black metal album for quite some time. A Monster In Mourning feels like a shot of energy into a genre that, for me, was hanging out of its arse. This deserves to be the album that sees Gehtika signed by a label and moving on to bigger things.
8 out of 10
- Gehtika will tour the UK throughout August, October and again in December. Check out their Facebook page for dates.
Track listing:
- Apollyon
- One Night Seven Sins
- Step Forth From The Darkness
- Stack The Pyres
- Empire In Decay
- A Monster In Mourning
- Reckoning
- The Massaquerade
- Shepherd of Erebus
- The Fiend Staring Back At Me
- A Halo Of Crows
