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GOTHO “Gothron Vs. Fartark”
GOTHO “Gothron Vs. Fartark”
By Dr. Abner Mality
What have we here? A musical giant monster battle of some kind? That’s always up my alley, but something even weirder is going on here. GOTHO are an Italian duo who journey into progressive and keyboard-oriented sounds here, with a story about a battle between cosmic entities. I found that it made for a nice diversion from the constant barrage of derivative death metal and overbaked power metal I have to endure.
It’s pretty obvious GOTHO don’t take themselves real seriously with song titles like “First Fight In Planet Disco Dance” and “Celebration of Gothron’s Power Playing the Space-Noir Trumpet”. That led me to think that this might be a PRIMUS/MR. BUNGLE kind of a deal, but no, it’s not that either. GOTHO is basically an instrumental outfit based mostly around synthesizers, electric piano and drums. If you asked me for a succinct description of their music, I’d say a cross between EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER and GOBLIN is not bad. No, it’s not metal, and yet parts of it are quite hard-hitting, especially those focusing on Andrea Peracchia’s powerful drumming. This guy can really smack the skins!
“Gothron Ars, Gothron Ars Eem” is a good introduction to GOTHO, with a machine gun drum beat hitting the eardrums. Gradually the synth work of Fabio Cuomo comes in with a wide variety of tones and sounds. Some of those sounds are pretty deep and heavy. The music is quite playful and thankfully not full of the gloom and horror that many key-oriented acts dwell upon. The lengthy “Mystical Training In Bothron Lamarovna’s Cave After Death” has an contemplative, almost religious vibe while “Second Fight At Planet Disco Dance” is upbeat and percussive, like an energetic DREAM THEATER without guitars.
As the album wends its path through many sonic landscapes, the lack of vocals does bring a certain monotony, which is a hill most instrumental acts have to climb. What story is being told here I have no clue and since there’s no words, it doesn’t matter much anyway. I’d recommend GOTHO to fans of progressive rock first, but open minded metal fans might find some value in the heavy-handed drumming and deeper synth riffs. As stated before, a nice break from typical metal overkill.
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