From the Vault Review: Gnoma – Muerte Sepultada
By Jason McLaren
South America is definitely a hotbed when it comes to producing a ton of extreme metal bands in the Christian scene, especially when it comes to Brazil and Chile in particular. Peru, however, presents rather slim pickings, and your faithful metal sleuth has only come across a handful of substance – Undemoniac, Rito Perpetuo, and the one we’re going to talk about here, a rather unique band called Gnoma and their first full-length Muerte Sepultuda.
Formed in 2001, Gnoma are, as I mentioned, one of the very few extreme metal bands to come out of Peru, and as far as I can tell, really the only death metal one outside of Nordic Wolves (though this band later would become Rito Perpetuo).
Frankly, I’m not even remotely sure where to start with this one. To be honest, I wasn’t impressed upon my first sampling of the album a while back, and even revisiting it now, I remain somewhat puzzled by its approach. Gnoma isn’t a band to approach death metal with a heavy hand; in fact, this could be one of the lightest death metal records I’ve ever heard. Categorizing the album is near impossible, as Gnoma blends a whole host of different stylistic approaches into the mix; acoustic guitars, trad metal riffs, synth, piano and clean singing all co-exist alongside harsh rasps and growls, hints of metalcore, and more traditional death metal passages. Nothing on here is especially heavy by death or black metal standards, but what is here is utterly unique in its strange blend of soft melodies and symphonic stylings. Those metalheads out there who generally find death and black metal too harsh will probably be surprised at and rather enjoy the more Saint-style heavy metal approach interwoven throughout the album. For me, the highlight of the album has to be “Zoe,” a 7+ minute epic of gorgeous acoustic guitars that lead into passages of heartfelt black/death groove.
Honestly, I didn’t expect to enjoy this album as much as I do. It’s an oddball record – at times, almost too soft, at times jarringly eclectic – but it all kind of melts into a cohesive yet ever-shifting whole. The clean singing I can do without, but it still does kind of contribute to the overall approach here of blending heavy, black, death and symphonic metal all into one. And in effect, this approach means there’s sort of something for everyone. It’s no Street Corner Queen in terms of its eclecticism, but its mix of melodic bass lines and acoustics with death metal aggression definitely places it alongside Lament during their lighter moments.
Overall, Gnoma’s Muerte Sepultada is a lighter black/death record than some, but it manages to keep things interesting during its entire duration. Sure, it’s got a few hiccups and odd moments in my view with some of the singing, but I can’t argue against its unique approach. Check it out.
For Fans Of: Lament, Ceremonial Sacred, Deuteronomium, Extol, Deborah
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