Gwynbleidd, Nostalgia: My Arms, Your Flatbush
Whereas the title could once be applied to the more tech-happy Atheist or later-era Death, for the better part of this century, the ?progressive death metal? genre tag has been subsumed almost entirely by one band: Opeth. As such, when I say that Gwynbleidd?s epic debut LP, Nostalgia fits well into the prog-death genre, I?m basically saying it sounds like the seminal Swedes. I?m sorry, but it?s unavoidable.
Almost so much so that it?s a distraction in listening. Nostalgia is not my first experience with Gwynbleidd — that would be their self-released 2006 EP, Amaranthine — but the Brooklyn-by-way-of-Poland four-piece have upped their ?Peth levels and it goes beyond mere aesthetic into the very fabric of the music itself. The hauntingly sustained notes, the acoustic/classic guitar interludes, the reverbed deathly growls and the back and forth interplay between heavy and melodic: all elements that should be immediately identifiable to anyone who?s sat with Blackwater Park and/or Deliverance on more than one occasion (note also that Gwynbleidd formed in 2002, between the release of those two records).
That said, if there?s a sound worth biting a piece from, even a piece as big as this, it?s that one, and no one to date has done it as authentically as Gwynbleidd do on Nostalgia. It?s just unfortunate that it?s only as late as closer ?Canvas for Departure? that more individual elements come into play, since it feels like the band are doing themselves a disservice by sounding so Opethian. The production is a big part of it, but again, who wouldn?t want to sound like Steven Wilson did their record? As someone who?s seen them live on multiple occasions and interviewed guitarist/vocalist Maciej Kupiszewski, I know Gwynbleidd are at their best when their sound harnesses its rawer, more driven, more intense, almost-black metal side. Though there are parts of Nostalgia that do that — in particular I?m thinking of the beginning movement of ?Stormcalling? — even those are straight out of the ?kerfeldt playbook.
Still, shame on The End Records for not signing the Brooklynites, forcing them to release Nostalgia on their own Black Currant Music imprint. There?s bound to be enough people interested in hearing the early ?00s Opeth sound to make it worth their while — hell, I?d probably have bought it — and it?s not like there?s anything wrong with either Gwynbleidd or the material on their debut. They released Frantic Bleep, fer chrissakes! All the performances here are top notch and the writing is well conceived, it?s just Gwynbleidd are doing something that?s already been done to a degree larger than most. Even that can?t take away from the obvious thought and effort put in, even going as far as the gorgeous digipak artwork of Travis Smith and the extensive 20-page booklet included, but if you?re going to listen — and I recommend you give them a shot — you should know what you?re getting.
Tags: Black Currant, Brooklyn, Gwynbleidd
