Author: Rok Klemše
Artist: Gonoba
Label: Self-released
Released: 2009
Runtime: 49:00
Rating: 4.5/5
From the moment I first chucked Gonoba’s debut demo into the player and those sweet-sounding death/thrash melodies caressed my ears, I was just waiting for the day I could hear these tracks with beefed-up production and in the proper form of a full-length studio album. After two well-received demos and a pile of gigs all over Slovenia, the guys finally locked themselves in Negligent Sound Solutions studio and recorded their debut album. Here it is: Chains of Ignorance!
Right from the opening track Procreation, Chains of Ignorance runs you over like a herd of rabid camels! The album is baroque in its richness, incredibly varied, devilishly dynamic and packed with crazy ideas. No matter how many times you spin CoI, you keep waiting for the next inventive, melodic riff to come flying in from one side, only for a second guitar riff to join it from the other and together build a nice bunch of phenomenal triple-harmony lines. The guitar duo of Matjaž Jurjevec and Mitja Prelovšek is technically brilliantly schooled, with incredible and seriously infectious riffs, all kinds of passages, fast picking and breathtaking solos flying at you from every direction, each one different from the last and polished down to the finest detail. Producer Domen Justin (ex-Negligence) also lent his fast fingers to a few of the solos, adding even more to the album’s colorful sound. Just when you think it can’t get any better, the hellish rhythm section serves you another kick to the head. Rok “Koki” Capuder delivers a colorful palette of transitions, excellent well-thought-out rhythms, generous and inventive use of cymbals and just the right amount of double bass from start to finish. It’s precisely his dynamic use of the double bass that keeps the drumming on this album from turning into yet another dick-measuring contest over who can kick the bass drums faster. While Koki ties everything together between the breakneck riffing, the real gem of the album is Brane’s insane bass playing. Look at those fingers fly up and down the neck! If you’ve ever complained that the bass is shoved too far into the background on metal records, do yourself a favor and listen to Chains of Ignorance. I’d bet a camel’s hump that abroad, Brane would already be mentioned in the same breath as big bass names like Steve DiGiorgio. And rightly so, since his incredible lines never get boring for a second, adding even more dynamics and a seriously hefty weight to the tracks, and they really shine in the “slower” parts, which trample you like a camel stampede. Up to this point, you could take Gonoba for a pure thrash metal band with the occasional technical touch and brilliant melodic inserts from the Swedish school of death/thrash, but then vocalist Matic “Hopsy” Babič steps into the spotlight and brings plenty of aggression and rawness to the songs. Hopsy is the one who has made the biggest leap since the demos. Where he was still finding his feet on the demos and occasionally sounded one-note, on Chains of Ignorance he’s a proper vocal beast, growling and screaming at the top of his lungs, yet doing it all clearly and understandably. The growls occasionally give up the lead role to a venomous thrash vocal that sounds something like a camel on acid… or Steve Souza on camel juice. The cherry on top is without a doubt the excellent production from Domen Justin. It’s modern and suits Gonoba perfectly. The instrumental side is perfectly balanced, the rhythm section is deep and destructive, the guitars cut like crazy, and the vocals are clear and distinct.
Chains of Ignorance is definitely one of the best releases from the thriving Slovenian metal scene, which has been churning out records back to back lately. The ace up Chains of Ignorance’s sleeve is its infectious melodic sense and its colorful, varied and dynamic songs, which keep the album from getting dull or monotonous even after countless listens. Chains of Ignorance is a record that the band and the Slovenian metal scene can be proud of, and it’s high time the camels ruled the world!
Lineup
Branimir Tkalec – bass
Mitja Prelovšek – guitar
Matjaž Jurjevec – guitar
Matic Babič – vocals
Rok Capuder – drums
Production
Domen Justin
Tracklist
1. Procreation
2. Constructing Deconstruction
3. Violent Solutions
4. In Vain
5. Human Error
6. The Black Side of Life
7. Sickness
8. The Fall of Mankind
9. Chains of Ignorance
10. Victim of Myself
