After ten years, Gadget have finally come out of hiding to lay another bludgeoning on unsuspecting ears. And until now, the band has been almost completely silent, save for a split with the legendary Phobia in 2010. A lot of bands have been coming back around again in the last few years (Wormed, Ritual Killer and Magrudergrind to name a few) that never declared break-ups. Okay, Gadget did actually break up for a bit but whatever. It’s nice to be reminded that there’s still more aural destruction in the band’s fingertips via The Great Destroyer. An aptly titled album.
If you’ve heard Remote or The Funeral March, then you know what you’re in store for: twenty-six savage minutes and seventeen tracks of restless, relentless grindcore goodness. The album opener “Enemies of Reason” is perfect summation of The Great Destroyer. It’s got a hardcore/punk vibe but doesn’t skimp on bringing the metallic edge. And it’s all over in fifty-six seconds. The band is still heavy as hell and still raw in their approach.
Songwriting-wise, Gadget doesn't sound for a second like they ever took a break. The tracks are tightly woven together and are almost always held together via the aforementioned hardcore/punk. There’s plenty of death metal moments thrown in throughout though. The title track “The Great Destroyer” has a badass death metal grind to it. The old school grind blast of “Violent Hours (For a Veiled Awakening)”, the Barney Greenway guest track, sounds like it was written back in the late 80s.
There’s also some slower…ish stuff thrown in. The five-minute closer track “I Don’t Need You / Dead and Gone” takes everything you’ve heard from the rest of the album, throws it in a blender and hits the puree switch. It’s a sludgy outro (save the first two minutes) that gives the listener a little time to breathe but still throws some punches your way.
What’s going to catch a lot of ear’s immediately is the cleaner production. The Funeral March and Remote were dirty albums and the filthy production strengthened the sound. The guitars sounded like they were producing extra walls of static. They were electric and fucking intense releases (especially The Funeral March). The Great Destroyer, make no mistake, still sounds great but the album has depth. It’s bassier. Listening to albums back to back can sound disorienting. Is it bad? No, it still sounds great and recording has changed a lot in ten years. But damn is it standout and I don’t wonder if it will throw off some old time grinders.
The Great Destroyer has everything a great grindcore album needs. It goes by quick though and it’s sometimes hard to get a handle on things and different songs if you’re not totally focused. But even if it’s something you’re only listening to in passing, the album’s not just going to fall on you fully as background noise. It’s loud as hell and constantly on full blast, even when coming to a close. Grindcore fans don’t need me to recommend this to them, they should already be on it. All others, yeah, give this a go.
Score: 8/10
FFO: Antigama, Nasum, Rotten Sound
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