Following up their 2020 debut album Divine Judgement, Swiss five-piece Gomorra are raging once again with sophomore release Dealer of Souls. Featuring current Destruction guitarist Damir Eskic alongside vocalist Jonas Ambühl, fellow guitarist Dominic Blum, bassist Arman Hadzic and drummer Stefan Hösli, this is another well-crafted and ferocious release that brings more melody to the fray than their first record.
Combining elements of thrash, traditional, groove, and power metal, this 50-minute release is almost a showcase of how to amalgamate styles to create a solid heavy metal record. It’s probably a challenge for those who struggle with the more eccentric style of vocal, for Ambühl has quite the range, soaring operatics through to gritty, gravel coated roars.
There’s the pacy intro of “Reflection of Souls”, the anthemic second single “Stand United” with its explosive mid-section break, and the brilliant bursting pace of “Dealer”. It’s full of chunky riffs, high paced rhythms and over-the-top vocals that make the album both hysterically funny but also completely endearing. It is genuinely like the cauldron of metal, where everything has been thrown into the pot and we aren’t quite sure what is coming out!
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If you like a singalong, then there’s plenty to entice you to exercise the vocal cords here. Dive deep into the chugging “Green Gold”, with its Pantera groove, or the imperious “Rule of Fear”, with its soaring gang chants that open the song before it opens out into a gloriously riotous power metal anthem. And then they throw the curved ball in with “All is Lost”. For three and a half minutes it gallops along, then drops into the style of Maiden’s” Tomorrow” before a delicious groove picks the band back up and off, they go again. It’s the band’s epic track and it works majestically.
With mixing and mastering by V.O. Pulver, Damir Eskic and Schmier (Destruction), and some impressive artwork courtesy of Gyula Havancsak, Dealer of Souls is as solid a heavy metal album as you’ll hear all year.
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Dealer of Souls is out on December 9th
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