GORRCH - Stillamentum

The Venetian band Gorrch deliver a dissonant black metal comparable to that of French act Deathspell Omega, right from their debut EP “Gorrch” (2013). That early formula, notable for its obscure nods to esoteric liturgies conjured through funereal chants, is refined on “Nera estasi” (2015), which is actually less abrasive: a melodic element is layered onto 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 passages that flaunt a new density in the arrangement: a deafening wall of sound, with guitars glinting and buzzing furiously, 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 of its time: a shame it lasts only 16 minutes — stretched to album length, it could have become a gem of the decade for the most experimental and extreme black metal.

“Stillamentum” is a second album, arriving 11 years after the first, that harnesses an excellent production to merge ferocity with atmosphere.

The vocals are easier to parse this time, even though the opening “Nimbus” immediately assaults the listener with a dissonant, fairly chaotic black metal, introduced by a grim burst of Gregorian chant. The terrifying, harrowing beauty of the imagery suggested by the lyrics, emotionally akin to the dark explorations of Deathspell Omega and Portal, fits squarely within the aesthetic of the blackest metal: “abyss after abyss”, as “Vorago” obsessively repeats, the listener sinks into a cosmos ruled by death, night, and despair.

It's easy to spot a touch of Glenn Branca in the guitars of “Larvæ”, even though the ascent is obviously mirrored into the bowels of the earth: a dizzying descent, with cacophonous spasms in the form of dissonant explosions that echo the symphonic style of Imperial Triumphant.

Even when they slow down, as on “Cryptæ”, the tension never lets up, morphing instead into an agonizing wait for the next black-metal storm.

Propelled by an inhuman blast-beat, “Angor” recalls certain moments of Emperor, indulging in liturgical choirs toward the end. Still, it's little more than a moment's breath: “Phlegma” is a slaughter featuring some of the record's most brutally dissonant passages, extreme doom-like slowdowns, and finally an unsettling hiss, a spectral presence in the form of feedback.

Worthy of a place among the black metal albums that still manage to impose their own aesthetic, “Stillamentum” will appeal to anyone seeking, in extreme metal, fuel for mental journeys that are harrowing, oppressive, evocative, and gloriously dissonant.

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02/04/2026