Recording, mix and master by Eric Hemery / Darkened Studio
Music composed by Ǥứŕū. Lyrics written by Jerry
Artwork : La romeria de San Isidro, Francisco de Goya
Ǥứŕū descended upon the Earth in the year MMXX following the encounter of Rudy and Jerry; the former, guitarist; the latter, singer, songwriter, and composer.
Their stylistic peregrinations led them first towards black metal, before veering sharply in the direction of doom.
With both being from western France (Loire-Atlantique and Brittany), they naturally looked for new recruits within these promised lands:
Quentin on drums, Anne-Laure on the bass, followed, two years later, by Simon on the second guitar.
The band thus complete, the quintet, in the year MMXXIII, has consecrated its first revelation, NOVA LVX, under the auspices of Sleeping Church records.
David : music & lyrics / vocals
Rudy : guitar
Simon : guitar
Anne-Laure : bass
Quentin : drums
I don't know how you would pronounce the name "Ǥứŕū" with all those diacritic symbols over each and every letter but at least this French quintet's debut album "Nova Lvx" is a bit easier to follow. Well, maybe the album is not quite as easy to listen to as I make out – there may be just four tracks, all of them quite long actually, in total but each and every song is a major opus in itself, complex in form and pace, and featuring a surprise or two. Ǥứŕū play dissonant blackened doom with lyrics of post-apocalyptic disaster, out of which a lucky select few individuals transform and escape the material plane after much suffering and torment. The band formed in 2020 after guitarist Rudy and singer / lyricist Jerry – who also sings for Les Chants de Nihil – met and decided to put together a group that initially was black metal and then veered towards doom metal.
"In the Crimson Smoke" introduces the band and its signature style in high form, veering from speedy dissonant black metal and raspy phantom vocals to portentous doom and clean heroic singing and back again without dropping a beat. The combination of both black metal and doom metal, along with their respective singing styles, in the same song – at the same time including a darkly atmospheric instrumental introduction with throat singing – is unexpected but Ǥứŕū rip through the track as though they've been playing this style of music all through their lives. As for Jerry, flipping between one set of vocalisations and another, very different set, he has no problems at all being in two sound worlds; indeed the combination of two styles of singing in this and the rest of the album, along with the music, gives Ǥứŕū a distinct if perhaps eccentric musical personality.
"Pilgrim on the Path of Tears" reveals a more deranged side to Ǥứŕū as the band slouches through doomy riffs and Jerry growls or roars the lyrics in an exaggerated dramatic manner. The music's darkness counterbalances the drama and bombast with a mix of catchy melodies. "Bathed in Sunlight" is a mini-opera of epic blackened doom theatrics and Jerry's vocal gymnastics going from one extreme to the other with hardly any common ground between the two. The guitar tone here is sparkling and the doom riffs are very good, rivalling Jerry's singing for attention with their stark and sultry sound and turning the song into a real prog rock drama. The album concludes with the title track which is a mostly bouncy black'n'roll number of scourging BM vocals, rollicking guitar riffs and headbanging beat – at least until Jerry's operatic side takes over, turning the song into a singalong party and even a football chant in parts.
Each song is very different from the others in its particular mix of black, doom and other musical influences, with "Bathed in Sunlight" especially featuring epic retro-1970s progressive rock elements in its riffs and singing, and the title track "Nova Lvx' having a very different mood. This makes the recording perhaps a little inconsistent and uneven in sound and mood though they all follow a definite lyrical narrative. The songs may be long but they give the album the feel of an EP, probably because there are so few of them. Another couple of tracks might have made this debut album sound like a proper album, at least to me anyway.
There's plenty to chew away on this album if you're inclined to listen to it deeply but even a casual listen reveals a distinct and varied style of blackened doom: very theatrical and maybe even a bit fruitcake eccentric, depending on your mood and the time of day. Without a doubt, Ǥứŕū is certainly a band worth watching, mainly to see where these five musicians will go next and how Jerry's throat and lungs can cope with all the demands he puts on them.
The artwork featured on the album's cover is a reproduction of Francisco Goya's "A Pilgrimage to San Isidro", one of a series of 14 paintings he did from 1819 to 1823 known as the Black Paintings for their sombre colours and their themes of pessimism, darkness and humans as dehumanised animals.
Sample:
