Music: Gaza: He Is Never Coming Back

Our Take

Back in 2006, Gaza’s debut album I Don’t Care Where I Go When I Die impressed the hell out of me. On that release, Salt Lake City based band combined elements of mathcore, grindcore, and even a little sludge and the results were stunning. Although they didn’t necessarily achieve the notoriety that some of the other groups on their label did, Gaza did achieve a dedicated following from those who did have the chance to hear the disc. Three years later, they are back with their sophomore effort entitled He Is Never Coming Back and it is better in almost every single way. This time around the instrumentalists have embraced the sludge elements and created material that is not quite as in your face but still sounds genuinely evil and has plenty of atmosphere to back it up.

There are still moments on He Is Never Coming Back where Gaza moves at fast tempos and has some grindcore elements like its predecessor, for the majority of the album the emphasis is on slower sludge/doom oriented material. Listeners will also notice that there are more instrumental tracks this time around, and the members of the group do spend a lot more time offering slower paced riffs that create a sense of tension and atmosphere. But don’t take this to mean that this release is not as heavy as the band’s previous work, as the tone of the instrumentals is very low and many of these tracks will still bludgeon the listener despite the fact that they are slower paced. Gaza also appears to have improved as songwriters, as He Is Never Coming Back feels like a much more cohesive effort and despite a little bit of repetition it manages to stay interesting for its entirety.

Though their last album combined low pitched growls and high pitched screams, for He Is Never Coming Back the group is focused almost entirely on growling and only uses screams on one or two of the tracks. Although the vocals are not always the most prominent element, when they are given the spotlight the lead singer ensures that his growls are extremely heavy and create a very ominous and evil sound. One of the best example of this is the title track of the album, where the instrumentals scale back and let the vocalist offer a very lengthy and powerful growl. Moments like this really demonstrate just how strong Gaza’s singer is, and he seems to have grown quite a bit over the past three years.

I really liked Gaza before, but they have really come into their own on He Is Not Coming Back. This disc is definitely going to be one of my favorites of the year, and though there are some occasional moments of repetition this is still a genuinely addictive album that I have probably listened to about ten times now. By heading in a more doom/sludge oriented direction Gaza has managed to create material that is more cohesive and even more interesting than before and hopefully this will help them to get the attention they deserve.

http://www.blackmarketactivities.com/

Chris Dahlberg
October 13, 2009