Gozu Announce New Album Gozu VI Out May 15; “Banacek” Video Posted
Any way you want to slice it, new Gozu is good news, but part of what I find exciting about the prospect of Gozu VI — indeed the Boston four-piece’s sixth LP since 2010’s Locust Season (discussed here; review here) — is it marks a return to Mad Oak Studio after three records in a row produced by Dean Baltulonis at Wild Arctic Studios in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. No question Baltulonis fostered some of their most brash, most aggressive material across 2016’s Revival (review here), 2018’s Equilibrium (review here) and 2023’s Remedy (review here), but as heard on Locust Season and its follow-up, 2013’s The Fury of a Patient Man (review here), producer Benny Grotto brings a different kind of warmth out of their sound.
Before we go anhy further, the video for first-single “Banacek” is at the bottom of this post. Heads up on brilliant shenanigans.
And not that I’ve heard Gozu VI or anything — wink wink nudge nudge — but that warmth is suited to songs that are more midtempo or, at least more midtempo on balance as the slow march of second cut “Midnight Express” builds in speed across its second half. Gozu have never been either all-charge or all-nod, and that remains a strength here as they foster intense stretches marked, as ever, by the soulful melodies of Marc Gaffney‘s vocals, but the atmospheric roll of “Corner Lariot” and the massive stride of later highlight “They Did Know Karate” feel full in their impact and the sharper corners and thrust of the subsequent “Gimme the Lute” (no lute that I could hear, not that I’ve heard the song) still carry through as a purposeful shift in intent before “Corvette Summer” (they’ve always loved a cult classic) finishes with due swagger. One could go on, but I guess that’s what a review is for, and we’ll get there.
For now, the PR wire brought album art and info thusly:
GOZU: Boston Stoner/Fuzz Rock Outfit To Release Gozu VI On May 15th Through Blacklight Media/Metal Blade Records; New Video/Single Now Streaming + Preorders Available
Preorder link: https://blacklightmediarecords.com/gozu
Boston stoner/fuzz rock outfit GOZU will release their long-awaited new full-length, Gozu VI, on May 15th through Blacklight Media/Metal Blade Records.
“We wanted something that really moved and hit a nerve,” says GOZU singer/guitarist Marc Gaffney on composing the band’s sixth studio album. “I was pretty roughed up emotionally while writing. I played guitar more in the past two years than ever before. I would work, go to the gym, come home, eat and then play guitar until I went to bed.”
The end result is eight action-packed tracks, produced and mixed by Benny Grotto at Boston’s Mad Oak Studios. Emotion is writ loud and large for the band that’s been praised for their “deep grooves, thick riff mechanics, soulful melodies,” and for creating a “musical stew that intoxicates the listener, sweeping them into another aural universe.”
Gaffney has spoken about the band’s, “maturity mixed with a childlike enthusiasm to play music,” and Gozu VI’s songs are proof positive. “I think this is more of a soulful, straight forward, guitar-driven album. Lyrically, this took on a whole different feel, and it wrote itself.”
“[Lead guitarist] Doug [Sherman] and I are always sending each other phone recordings,” the singer furthers. “So, we had a bunch in the mix when we all got together. It’s usually Doug and I meeting, then [drummer] Seth [Botos] and [bassist] Joseph [Grotto] hop on board and we all hammer it out. Lyrics for these tunes were written way ahead as I was going through some shit. I would write at night in this crappy apartment I was living in so I would not be indulging in cocktails,” Gaffney says. “Sometimes you must have your own therapy sessions, and I had a fuck ton!”
The singular band’s last album, 2023’s Remedy, was reviewed as an “utter triumph” and praised for being
“never too testosteroney, even when the songs are at their heaviest.” Of GOZU’s writing approach, The Obelisk wrote, “This has been GOZU‘s method for seven years now, to take the tones, grooves and – particularly in the vocals of guitarist Marc ‘Gaff’ Gaffney, the soul of heavy rock – and recontextualize them with a force of impact born of heavy metal.”
With Gozu VI, the lineup’s melding of intense, fuzzy ‘70s-inspired riffs, rich, catchy, grunge-esque vocal melodies, and a touch of oldschool stoner psychedelia has reached a zenith. Categorize them how you will. “We don’t mind if people think we’re stoner, doom, heavy, easy listening with a touch of cayenne pepper. I feel we’re just a heavy soulful band,” Gaff says. “We play music that people can shake their ass to and lyrics that are honest and deal with human nature.”
In advance of the record’s release, today GOZU presents their first single, “Banacek.” Comments Gaffney, “Iron Maiden is a huge favorite for all of us and we wanted a tune with that Steve Harris gallop. Jellyfish has always been a band that has crippled me with their amazing vocal harmonies so intrinsically that’s how the vocals arrived!”
Gozu VI will be released digitally. Find preorders at: blacklightmediarecords.com/gozu.
Gozu VI Track Listing:
1. Corinthian Leatherface
2. Midnight Express
3. Killer Khan
4. Corner Lariot
5. Banacek!
6. They Did Know Karate
7. Gimme The Lute
8. Corvette Summer
GOZU is:
Marc Gaffney – guitar and vocals
Joe Grotto – bass
Doug Sherman – lead guitar
Seth Botos – drums
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