Tribal Gaze - Godless Voyage

A voyage through forgotten gateways.

(Originally submitted to the Metal Archives on December 11th 2021) 

Death metal has been going through a renaissance of sorts over the past 15 years, with many modern bands drawing inspiration from legends of old and paying tribute in their own way. Whether it’s the murky sounds of Incantation, or Entombed’s buzzsaw chaos, odds are you’ll find a group that cites either of them as an influence. One band that doesn’t see much in the way of emulation though is Morbid Angel. The Florida legends haven’t been very popular in the 21st century, and their output reflects that. So you can imagine my surprise whenever I stumble upon a band like Tribal Gaze. The Texas quintet decided to draw from such an unlikely source for their debut EP, Godless Voyage, and they channel that energy to great effect.
More often than not, when you find a band that emulates the Morbid Angel sound (Totten Korps, Pneuma Hagion), they tend to draw from Gateways to Annihilation, and these guys are no different. The songs maintain a steady mid-to-upper tempo pace that feels positively crushing throughout. The riffs stomp their way through the listener’s ears and maintain a headbangable energy throughout. But worry not, there’s no shortage of blazing fast riffs either. What truly makes them work though is how well the band alternates between them. For being relative newcomers to the scene, they have excellent songwriting capabilities and it shows. Riffs flow into one another seamlessly, and they always pay off, there’s not a single moment wasted here. Tracks like “Towers of Illness”, “Astral Nameless” and the title track are full of neck-snapping riffs and transitions that are sure to get anyone’s blood pumping.
I would be remiss not to bring up the band members’ performances here, because they’re outstanding, despite how close they are to those of their idols. Guitarist Ian Kilmer channels his inner Trey Azagthoth, conjuring riffs that feel like lava pouring out of a volcano, while bassist Zachary Denton supplements that sound with his surprisingly prominent bass presence. The real standout here though is drummer Quintin Stauts. Unlike Pete Sandoval, he doesn’t rely so much on blasting, instead opting for excellent cymbal work and drum fills. While he does blast when the moment calls for it, he keeps things tasteful, and is arguably the best part about the EP.
The production here is also top notch and worth discussing. The guitars have this sludgy and thick tone to them that is simply worthy of a chef’s kiss, the bass sounds appropriately filthy, and the drums are just pulverising everything in their path. Again, it sounds a lot like Gateways…, albeit more modern, without that meaning that it sounds worse. The mixing in particular is excellent, with all the instruments being perfectly audible at all times, resulting in a monolithic slab of heaviness.
While I do enjoy this EP a lot, the parallels to Morbid Angel I’ve drawn over the course of this review are both a blessing and a curse. On one hand I very much enjoy seeing more bands try to emulate their sound, on the other I also want to see them inject a bit of their own identity to the mix. While Tribal Gaze hasn’t quite gotten there yet, they’ve set down some solid foundation through the drumming and bass playing. What’s left now is for everyone to let their creative juices flow and get the most out of this formula, because lord knows it’s got a lot of potential.
Godless Voyage is an unexpected standout in a sea of caverndeath and Entombedcore, and serves as a great reminder that other styles of death metal exist. All that's left now is for more bands to follow in Tribal Gaze's footsteps and explore this sound. As for the band itself, they're showing a lot of promise, and I'm curious to see how they'll act upon it in the future.
Highlights: Towers of Illness, Astral Nameless, Godless Voyage

Rating: 85% 

  

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