Album Reviews : Gaza – No Absolutes In Human Suffering

Oh man. What an intense album.

Gaza‘s No Absolutes In Human Suffering is an excursion in dissonance, fury and blastbeats; an incredible sludge-and-grind hybrid delivered with seething nihilism and apocalyptic despair.

The group combine the grooving polyrhythms of Botch, the jarring fury of Converge and Coalesce, the sludgy hate of Eyehategod and the sheer blasting intensity of Pig Destroyer. The result is visceral and intense; breathing new life into some of the more tired aspects of hardcore.

What makes this album so powerful are occasional departures into reflective passages – like the ending of “When They Beg”, which drifts off into a warm, droning meditation, boasting a melody that reminds me more of Genghis Tron‘s prettier moments.

The emotional impact of segments like this really set the band apart from many of the one-mood bands I’ve turned away from in the past. It’s a little concept called dynamics. You want to create the heaviest riff ever written? Well, write it, and then set it in the middle of a beautiful and delicate 10 minute major key dream piece. Its impact will be multiplied tenfold.

While I’ve been stuck in the mindset that most modern hardcore and grind is stagnant and uninteresting, bands like IDYLLS, In Trenches and Gaza are out to prove me wrong – and they’re doing it quite well.

With No Absolutes In Human Suffering, Gaza have landed themselves one of the strongest releases in grind and hardcore for 2012. This is going to be a tough one to beat.

Go stream the whole thing.

This review originally appeared at AusGrind.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRO1LX5Kk3o&version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0&w=480&h=360]

Band: Gaza
Album: No Absolutes In Human Suffering
Year: 2012
Genre: Grindcore / sludge / hardcore
Label: Black Market Activities
Origin: Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
http://www.gazamusic.net/

Track list:
1. Mostly Hair And Bones Now
2. This We Celebrate
3. The Truth Weighs Nothing
4. Not With All The Hope In The World
5. The Vipers
6. No Absolutes In Human Suffering
7. The Crown
8. When They Beg
9. Winter In Her Blood
10. Skull Trophy
11. Routine And Then Death