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Released on August 1, 2015 via Independent
Seattle psychedelic doomsters Giza are back with a new EP entitled Migration. I was particularly taken, though pushed to the limit of aural acceptance, with their last record I am the Ocean, I am the Sea. Similarly, there are moments on this EP that had me wondering why I was attempting to put together some words for a review, and do it with an air of praise for a genre that I’m not overtly familiar with. This release gradually gets better with each track, ending in a 13 minute blowout of truly epic proportions.
Opener ‘Cenotaph’ is an auspicious start, delicate notes plucked with an air of melancholy suddenly slam into a brutal riff, which I choose to describe as pure sludge. Lead lines flicker with the merest hint of melody but the overriding sound is heavy and punishing. ‘Hashteroid’ begins with an acoustic intro again before a merciless pounding begins. The track grinds to a halt before re-emerging as a slow monotonous noise. Amidst the relentless guitars there’s a howling collision of lead lines buried deep in the mix, would have liked them a bit more to the fore. Ending in a flurry of up-tempo drums, the guitars squeal to a silence and a brilliantly unexpected drum solo hammers closure.
Things get very creative with the oddly named ‘Strawberry Caviar’, the picked notes of the intro bring a much needed calm after the first two tracks. A deep bass hum adds to the eerie ambience, before a sharp squeal of feedback warns of the impending noise. It’s strange how the combination of howling feedback and haunting plucked notes work to give a track showing a much more melodic side to Giza.
Final track, the aforementioned epic ‘March of the High Priest’ opens with what sounds like a bell tolling providing a frightening elongated intro. The track is 13 minutes long and the 2 minutes of intro nods to Godspeed You! Black Emperor. There’s a further minute or so of one-note guitar chimes before the drums and bass enter for a funereal pace. Giza appear to be aiming for something cinematic and they certainly succeed. There’s a totally unexpected vocal intervention from Irene Barber (Dust moth, XVIII Individual Eyes), who sounds like the otherworldly Chelsea Wolfe. The melody is utterly beguiling and yearning, I want more of this. With the instrumentation veering away from the deep sludge of the opening tracks, this is much more palatable to these ears. Having said that, it makes me appreciate the necessity to have such intense heaviness in the first two tracks. The latter half of this closing track returns to the dirty distorted elongated passages where riffs roam free. Sprawling and ambitious, this track shows a great progression for the band.
After a tentative start, I’m glad I encountered this new release, it’s good to hear how a band’s sound widens to incorporate new ideas and Giza have obviously allowed themselves the freedom especially with the guest musicians involved. Worth a listen, especially ‘March of the High Priest’, hopefully they’ll get to work soon on a full length album.
