Here's an interesting one from the North Carolina collective known as Gollum. By the title, The Core might lead you to believe that this is all about, well, you know, some sort of hardcore or metalcore hybrid, in truth, though at their 'core' (sorry, had to throw that in) Gollum are essentially a hardcore band, there's a lot of stuff going on here that almost forbids them from being pigeonholed in any one style. The CD is dedicated to their late drummer Hunter Holland, who passed away as the band started recording The Core, and after a short grieving period the band decided to regroup and finish up the CD for release on Rotten Records. The songs here are a mix of brutal hardcore, some psychedelia, and even some technical metal, crushing riffs meeting up with spooky electronics on tunes like "Ominous Winds" and the energetic title track, while the band goes for the juggular on the monstrous "Blacksmith (Summoning Wrath)", a groove laden slice of swamp-soaked death metal. That southern influence again rears its head on the sludgy "Diggin' " (featuring guest vocals from Lamb of God's Randy Blythe) and the redneck stomp of "Darkhorse". Plenty of psychedelic, post-rockish atmosphere too, as evident on the excellent closer "Omens", a rich and soupy instrumental (save for some spoken word vocalisations) featuring some tasty guitar textures and fluttering electronics.
Some solid stuff here, and proof that you can't always judge a CD by its cover or title. RIP Hunter.
Track Listing
1. The Calm Before
2. The Core
3. Ominous Winds
4. Blacksmith (Summoning Wrath)
5. Diggin'
6. Amor Fati
7. Darkhorse
8. The Burden Of Ubiquitous Scars
9. Schadenfreude
10. Carven Bones
11. Omens
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