Album Review: Gomorra - Dealer of Souls
Reviewed by Matthew Williams
From the off, ‘Dealer of Souls’ from Swiss thrashers Gomorra, goes straight for the throat and strangles you tightly, shaking your very body to the core as you revel in the riffs and the energy which is permeating from the band.
Following on from their debut album ‘Divine Judgement’ in 2020 these new eleven songs, beginning with ‘Reflection of Souls’, pick up in a similar vein. Insanely fast and groovy thrash riffs being batted about back and forth like a tennis ball by Damir Eskic of German thrash legends Destruction and Dominic Blum, uncompromising drumming from Stefan Hosli and bassist Arman Hadzic keeping it all together. Leading the full metal assault, wielding his microphone like a war general holding a bato is lead singer Jonas Ambuhl, encouraging all listeners to ‘Stand United’ alongside Laura Guldemond of Burning Witches.
The opening riff and subsequent squeal to ‘Dealer’ is pure metal theatre and Ambuhl has a voice that some will like and some won’t, as it’s a very 80’s style, with an exceptional range and he mixes it well across the songs. He reminds me a bit Manowar’s Eric Adams in his ability and the band manage to traverse many different metal genres from heavy to power to thrash and have embedded epic singalongs for fans to really test their vocal chords to the max, with ‘War of Control’ being a first class example.
In ‘Lost in Darkness’ they possess a song that showcases exactly what this ensemble are all about, it’s a brooding, dramatic piece, which allows the musicianship to shine throw and Ambuhl is free to demonstrate his vocal talents before a killer riff kicks in and sweeps the song along. The last few songs are a mix of power and aggression, with ‘Rule of Fear’ a real call to arms with some punishing riffs and crushing drums, before final track ‘End of the World’ wraps up the album with finesse and leaves you wanting more.
