Gruhl – Gruhl (2020)- Speed, chaos and sobriety
Gruhl is a mysterious band from southern Mississippi. Information about musicians, origins, influences is nonexistent on the internet as of the date of this review. With effort it is uncover that they (who? How many?) classify themselves as Blackened Doom metal. And despite the album cover referring to a Deathcore / Metalcore musical style, none of these genres do more justice than Black Metal.
Gruhl is for those who like Black Metal at a Death metal speed loaded with vocals that alternate between strident ripped-throat screams, with guttural initeligibles howls. Necrotic Sorcery begins giving a impression there will be an obscure atmosphere maturing each song, but it takes just 20 seconds to speed and destruction to bash the keyboard climate. Speed is ubiquitous, but not exclusive. Songs like Cave of Sorrow are sustained in chaos as a result of unintelligible screams and changes in cadence. Open Graves refers to a cyclic cadence, but still without rhythmic uniformity. Grulh follows an exasperated journey, with small doses of cadence, hints of chaos and chunks of speed.
The debut of this enigmatic Mississippi band sounds like a Cradle of Filth without a keyboard and without atmosphere, meaning, without garishness. Some would call it proto-Black Metal, it just isn't because it doesn't have the raw-nasty sound (thanks God!) characteristic of seminal recordings of beings like Mayhem, Burzum and adjacent.
Marcelo Hissa
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