This is metal at its sweet, orgasmic best!
Hang on to your heads ladies and gents as the GU Medicine lads are back with their third album, “Lords of Oblivion”. Released on 12th April 2010, the album features an incredible power from the very first chord; this is a fierce musical assault that you’ll want to experience over and over again. The band describes it as a “hot slab of pure molten rock rolling down the side of the volcano towards your house. You can’t stop it, it’s going to crush you, and burn you, and crush you, a satanic pyroclasm.”
...are you ready for this? Those of a nervous disposition may wish to look away...
Taking inspiration from different musical genres from across the decades, the album features heavy, intricate guitar riffs akin to the NWOBHM era and a strong vocal performance that is bursting with punk attitude; with growls turning to screams at just the right moment to emphasise the climaxes of each song, this is metal at its sweet, orgasmic best!
The best track on the album is title track ‘Lords of Oblivion’; building dark atmosphere from the start, the guitar harmonies are hugely effective. As the song grows more powerful, the rhythms become pretty damn groovy with the gritty vocal contribution the icing on a very tasty cake. Fading to nothing before blasting you out of complacency with following track, ‘Lighting up the Skies’, this is an extremely memorable track and definitely the highlight of what is an incredibly solid album.
The most surprising inclusion on the album is ‘Glass Eye’, a short instrumental track that features a soft, gentle acoustic melody. Completely juxtaposed to the rest of the album, it offers the listener a much-needed breather before throwing you back into the maelstrom bring on ‘Done Far Too Many’!
The album finishes with ‘The Hangman Has Been Hired’, the music ending and the closing sound that of the noose slowly swinging; the effect was so simple yet left goosebumps on my arms and for once, I was speechless... wow.
The world is GU Medicine’s oyster: having already recorded a session for BBC Radio 1’s Rock Show and won Scuzz TV’s “New Blood” award back in 2004, the sky is the limit! I had the pleasure of catching GU Medicine’s recent set at Hammerfest II (March 2010) and am so glad that I’ve had the opportunity to listen to their recorded material as well. Who knew being (musically) bludgeoned to within an inch of your life could be so good!
The future of British heavy metal is looking very bright!
To find out more about this powerhouse band, check out their Myspace page.