GOG

Gog define the opaque revelations that boil deep in the core of our corpulent vessels. The vibrations and borderline psychedelic fervour that shackle this drone are pitch black in nature. From the dishevelled drums that stumble along amidst the crushed hums of feedback to the high pitched frequencies that serve to exacerbate the bleakness, Gog command an orchestral vision of apocalypse. Hard not to fall prey to this vicious nothing, Michael Bjella’s compositions are purposely bleak, slow affairs that eventually ignite and explode like glorious shards of sparkling white clarity. Dense, subterranean drones spread wings over broken swathes of feedback and blotted promises of light. The atmosphere is constantly evolving. Pictures of weak humanity are painted (the bleak, frail human vessel crushed and trodden under measures to great, vistas of existence that defy curiosity, under opacity too unfathomable) before appeasement occurs. At its darkest, Gog is an imposing glorification of nothing. At its brightest, Gog is our saviour. A swirling vortex of white and black, virtue and nihil, that finds equilibrium in entrancing drone.

The paradoxical comfort of this nothingness is startling. Where the majority of projects remain satisfied carving a dimensional picture of the abyss , Gog surprise with segmented crystalline moments of hope. Instead of sinking us lowly into the depths of conscious thought, we are reminded of the light: sections from Mist From The Random More where an almost melodic guitar line permeates the layers of dense drone together with cymbal smashes before breaking into a funeral-paced march back into caverns and minimalism. Gog represent a double edged sword, wielding the ability to crush and lift us simultaneously.

Mist From The Random More is Gog’s first release through Utech Records and acts as the more psychedelic counterpart to the overbearing weight contained within Fierce Heavy Brightness. The latter finds its strength in a greater coming together of ideas; crushing feedback, saturated drums, awe-inspiring purity – more cohesive in its textured approach to drone. The former is more primitive and psychedelic in its nature. The title track, Mist From The Random More, is a twenty three minute monolith journey through the timeless questions that lead directly to the heart of absurdity. Guitar passages fumble their way to the top of the fold where they shine and resonate like darker sections of latter day Earth records. A glorious hypnotic element that falls somewhere in between Boris and Horseback. The range and dynamic nature of Gog recordings are hard things to pinpoint.

Feedback is used tastefully and with great effect. Unlike the monochrome drone passages crafted by Sunn 0))) in earlier recordings, Gog’s textures ebb and flow. There is a development in sound that pushes Gog away from the pretentious repetition we come to expect from drone. Do not come to this expecting background music.

Gog is the nihil in your ennui.

Stream here.

You'll find me in the vast wilderness of British Columbia, talking metal at LURKER, or working in publishing and front-end web/eBook development.

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