Gottverlassen

It was back in ’96 when I first this album and I immediately fell in love with it!! 16 years later, I love it even more, not only because it’s a great album, but because it brings me back so good old feelings and specially I fucking remember one and every song note by note!! And this is one of the greatest components that a good album must have, I mean, if you can’t remember songs after listening to them and specially after so many years, that means the songs weren’t that good.

One of the curious things about The Mist is that guitarist/vocalist is Jairo Guedz, known for being one of Sepultura’s former guitarists that left after “Morbid Vision” leaving his place for Andreas Kisser. “Gottverlassen” is the 3rd and last full length by the band and I must say they left with a great album!! The music could be described as some kind of groove Thrash whose main influenced I’d say they are Slayer, Sepultura and Prong. Along the whole album, the most noticeable influence is undoubtedly Slayer which mixed with some occasional touches from the two other mentioned bands, gives an interesting final result. One of the points I specially like about this album, which makes it different from your typical Thrash outfits, is the voice. Sounds like tired, sounds like just wake up, but it’s so damn cool!! Reminds me to Prong’s Tommy Victor. There are so many vocalists that try to imitate others and there’s so many clichés, that it’s great to hear a voice that stands out and it’s so easily recognizable.

The album is not a display of technical abilities and sure they don’t even try to be technical, but instead this power-trio sticks to memorable riffing, solid song structures and catchy-as-fuck songs that won’t leave your head if you listen to the album with the right mood. Featuring 12 songs in almost one hour, it might seem a bit long for your usual album, but shit, when you enjoy an album so much it even leaves you an impression that’s too short and you gotta press play again and listen to it again and again…

Hoo boy, this pretty much just sucks all around. I really can't think of anything good to say about it, really. I suppose the production is decent, but that's not really the band's job. The instruments are played decently. Unfortunately what they're playing is pretty awful so I guess that's a wash.

The vocals on this just SUCK, they're utterly feeble and powerless and sound like a seventy year old man trying to shout. The music is equally elderly and decrepit, concentrating on a groove-oriented style of thrash which was probably obsolete at the time that this album was released. It's unbelievably bland; all the grooves and song structures are agonizingly predictable. Bizarre elements mar this album constantly; solos fizzle out halfway through melodic phrases, stolen Pantera riffs are executed remarkably clumsily, even the art is dumb and poorly made. Sections of songs abruptly end and just sort of shuffle into the next with no rhyme or reason. It would be avant garde if it wasn't so boring.

There are occasional moments that have a nice groove but I honestly think they were probably arrived at accidentally. This is remarkably primitive and useless music, even for 1995 thrash. It's almost like an attempt to go back to ultra-early Metallica style NWOBHM-influenced thrash without any of the tact that defined such music. It all feels very pointless and half-hearted. What's the point of it? Even the band doesn't know. Songs are made for the purpose of making songs, not with any particular goal in mind. Who wants to listen to this? NO ONE, THAT'S WHO.

Anyway, this is terrible and no one will ever want it or enjoy it. It's not the worst thing in the world but it is fairly awful with nothing to recommend for it. Fortunately it's obscure enough that it will likely never be forced on those who aren't looking for it.