By Jonny Bakes
Love doom music but have too much energy and love to party? Well Gurt has curved out a very specific niche just for you… You may have heard of party thrash, but have you party doom yet? Coming hot on the heels of the fantastically named ‘Bongs of Praise’ comes this latest effort from London’s Gurt in the form of ‘Satan ETC’. And while the name of the album doesn’t have quite the same attention grabbing nature this time, I don’t think it needs to because the draw is all there in the music!
‘Satan ETC’ brings a balance of the slow trance-inducing doom and serious heavy hitting party anthems that might just entice you into getting some pints down and headbanging the night away. From the opening notes of the first track all the way through to the close, you’re faced with distorted guitars and sludgy bass on a foundation of blistering drums that’ll grab you by your relevant genitalia and drag you along for a hell of a ride! There’s plenty of humour in the song titles too, with my particular favourite being ‘Sandworm Fleshlight’ which has to be a reference to the, err, humorously shaped popcorn bucket that was released to promote the second Dune movie. Oh and let’s not forget ‘In for a Penny, In for a Pounding’ too, which to be fair could quite easily be the slogan for this album, if the lads aren’t already using it then have at it!
Right out of the gate, ‘The Most Dying Way to Die’ lures you in with a catchy groove before you get an almighty slap around the face in the form of the forceful yells of Gareth Kelly. It’s a simple and seriously heavy song that sounds its best with the bass cranked way up to experience the full force. And with that you’ll find yourself trying to decide between diving into the pit or getting your groove on, but really you just have to combine the two and go all out. For me, ‘The Most Dying Way to Die’ is going to be a real winner for the Gurt live show and a surefire way to whip the crowd into a frenzy.
In contrast, ‘Ennui Go’ takes a slower start than some of the other tracks on the album, but this somehow makes it even heavier as each drum beat seems to hit home harder than the last. It’s just the right rhythm for those “I’ve had way too much and just need to vibe for a while” kind of nights but with the odd injection of energy to keep things a little spicy. These are a massive tease as each time things get a little faster it feels like it’s going to build into something but then drops straight back down again, it’s like metal edging! But it sure is effective in making you want more because you just know that there’s some real heavy shit that Gurt are just holding back on until they finally deliver right at the end of the track, before immediately moving into the racy ‘Exit As You Enter’.
In case you hadn’t already noticed, ‘Satan ETC’ was a big hit for me. Gurt has unleashed a belter of an album that embodies ‘In for a Penny, In for a Pounding’ and a pounding is exactly what you’re going to get. And you’re going to love it! With the energetic party anthems on this album, I’d be willing to go as far as to say that Gurt is really gunning to be the Municipal Waste of the doom metal world.
Even if you’re reading this and thinking that it doesn’t sound like your usual vibe, I strongly recommend you give this a blast as you might just find a new Saturday night anthem in here! No matter your poison of choice, I reckon ‘Satan ETC’ will be the perfect partner.
- ‘Satan ETC‘ is released today (Friday 7 June).
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