Gorrch

Veneto natives Gorrch deliver a dissonant black metal that recalls French act Deathspell Omega right from their debut EP “Gorrch” (2013). That initial formula, notable for its obscure nods to esoteric liturgies conjured by dirge-like chants, is refined on “Nera estasi” (2015), which is actually less forbidding: a melodic element is added to the dissonance, in compositions that alternate supersonic outbursts with more atmospheric pauses, as in the instrumental title track. The brief “Introvertere” (2019), four tracks numbered “I” through “IV”, leans into vertiginous, jagged dissonant solutions, flaunting a new density of arrangement: a deafening wall of sound, with guitars that glint and buzz maniacally, bestial screams shot through with excruciating pain, and a high degree of compositional complexity. A genuine tour de force of extreme intensity, among the most overwhelming examples of black metal from this period: a shame it only lasts 16 minutes, since at album length it could have become a landmark of the decade's most experimental and extreme black metal.

“Stillamentum” (2026) is a second album, 11 years after the first, which harnesses excellent production to merge ferocity with atmosphere.

(Antonio Silvestri)