Stoner
Metal Blade Records/Blacklight Media Records
Release Date – May 19th 2023
Line Up:
Marc Gaffney – Guitar/Vocals
Doug Sherman – Lead Guitar
Joseph Grotto – Bass
Seth Botos – Drums
Tracklist:
1 – Tom Cruise Control
2 – CLDZ
3 – Rambo 2
4 – Joe Don Baker
5 – Pillow Talk
6 – The Magnificent Muraco
7 – Ben Gazzara Loves No One
8 – Ash
9 – The Handler
This is what we want! Gozu does stoner and psych rock like no other and apparently, they have reached a certain maturity and are better players now than their last effort five years ago. They also say that they want to give you a metaphoric 1-2-3 combination like being punched in the chest – head- chest. Do they deliver? Hell yes!
‘Tom Cruise Control’ opens with a grinding riff then new drummer Seth Botos batters his kit into submission before Marc Gaffney’s Ozzy-like wail powers over the top then ‘CLDZ’ comes out for the second round a like a man possessed before it settles into a mighty groove before ‘Rambo 2’ starts a monumental stomp with a wall of sound Phil Spector would be proud of. ‘Joe Don Baker’ kicks up loads of dust with Botos giving his kit another battering – wonder how many heads and sticks he went through recording this. Gaffney and fellow six-stringer Doug Sherman are in perfect unison riffing up a storm. Spoiler alert – ‘Pillow Talk’ ain’t no soppy ballad! It pulverizes with some huge riffage and another soulful wail from Gaffney then ‘The Magnificent Muraco’ grinds along on Joesph Grotto’s huge bass line before the wonderfully titled ‘Ben Gazzara Loves No One’ brings some well-earned psych/doom then ‘Ash’ starts with a true stoner groove before it throttles back into a dreamy/psych workout where Gaffney gives us his falsetto before getting rough and heavy on the breakdown. The final cut, ‘Handler’, is a nine-minute epic that starts low and slow and again with the falsetto until halfway when we get a throaty roar and Sherman invokes the psych. The track builds and goes through the movements with squally sounds and a solid rhythm.
Gozu knows what they’re doing, and they know how to deliver. It’s not polished – it’s loud and raw but not without subtlety. Their previous album ‘Equilibrium’ was class, but this is a step up in all departments and the band should be extremely happy with the end product.
Written by: Smudge
Ratings: 9/10
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