Style: Thrash metal, power metal, progressive metal (clean vocals, Japanese lyrics)
Recommended for fans of: Megadeth, Kreator, Nevermore, Manticora, DragonForce
Country: Japan
Release date: 27 August 2014
Scouring Metal-Archives using their advanced search function to find everything that was released in my given genre and time period of interest was the habit that led to the creation of this blog. The first time I did this was in 2017 when I wondered why no worthwhile modern tech thrash seemed to exist besides Vektor. That search led me to two bands, one being the Spanish one-man project Cautiva with their brilliant one-off album Human, the other being Japanese legacy band Gargoyle’s seventeenth album 解識 (henceforth referred to as Geshiki). Apparently they never toured or released anything outside of Japan, so despite dating back to the 80s, no one heard of them except for the few metalhead nerds who thoroughly scoured the web like I did. Either way, I counted my lucky stars because Geshiki quickly became one of my all time favorites.
While Gargoyle had always been pretty fast paced, Geshiki is just fucking balls to the wall with no regard for genital safety. Virtually every track is played at a breakneck tempo with incredible precision of every musician, and thanks to the modern production style that strikes an excellent balance between compression and spaciousness, the riffs also hit like a truck. Speaking of riffs, Gargoyle are truly one of the best in the business, and on Geshiki they show you exactly why as they crank out godly riff after godly riff. Whether they’re going at full speed or whether they’re just hammering on the power chords doesn’t matter; just look at the frantic speed metal riffs of “羯諦 [Kettei]” and “直撃 [Chukogeki]” or the power metal inspired harmonies of opener “Gordian Knot” and “Mankai Oratio” and you’ll understand. Of course the guitar solos are jaw dropping, too—flaunting skill in both shred and melody at every opportunity.
The drummer also deserves a shout-out for his performance. Double time at high speeds, blast beats, blisteringly fast fills, all played with grace and precision; I don’t know where Katsuji Kirita gets the energy from to play like that so far into his career—let alone to also do backing vocals in the meantime—but hey, I’m all here for it. Speaking of which, Kazuhisa Tochihara is stupidly charismatic on vocal duties as well, adopting that classic thrash not-sure-if-talking-or-shouting-or-both style of singing with such conviction, power, and technical proficiency that I found the melodies stuck in my head even if I couldn’t understand a word of what he was saying. The strong chorus-based structure of these songs helps in that regard of course, but without Kazuhisa Tochihara’s charisma I don’t think I would have found myself going GYATSUGYAT GYATSUGYAT or ORA! ORA! MANKAI ORA! as I woke up early on a Sunday morning to feed my cat.
For an album as breakneck as Geshiki, forty-nine minutes might seem like a lot, but Gargoyle actually space it out nicely with well-timed breather tracks. “Fullcolor Answer” and closer “Namida no Kachi” are midtempo ballad-esque tracks focusing primarily on melody and atmosphere, whereas “Tsubasa no Kioku” is a dynamic instrumental that also uses the opportunity to take a step back from the onslaught. I must say I don’t find these tracks as compelling as the other more aggressive ones, but their excellent placing makes the album infinitely more digestible and the songs are still very enjoyable in their own right. And in terms of variety, it extends beyond merely slapping on a ballad or two. Even within the adrenaline rush, each track has its own story to tell: “SW Power” with its power/thrash flavor, “Kettei” with its blast beats and rolling tom rhythms, “Mankai Oratio” with its call and response chorus, “Chukogeki” with its rapidfire vocal lines, and so on. While not as diverse as some of their previous work like Natural or Future Drug, Gargoyle still show a keen understanding of songwriting and album structuring on Geshiki that pays enormous dividends.
Finding Geshiki was such a pivotal moment in my musical journey as it solidified the habit that led to this blog, and it’s a shame that none of Gargoyle’s music is available on streaming bar some mediocre fan uploads on YouTube (stupid Japanese labels and their dinosaur policies), but nevertheless I believe Geshiki is an extremely worthwhile album to seek out. The band’s next and final album Taburakashi is more in the same style, which I can also wholeheartedly recommend. Nowadays, I rarely listen to thrash anymore like I did when I found this band, but this album is so good and timeless that I still revisit it regularly. Just please for the love of God put your music somewhere I can realistically buy it without needing to learn Japanese.
Recommended tracks: Gordian Knot, Kettei, Mankai Oratio, SW Power
You may also like: Significant Point, Cautiva, more Gargoyle
Related links: Official Website | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Label: First Cell – Official Website
Gargoyle is:
– Kazuhisa “Kiba” Tochihara (vocals)
– Kentaro Yokota (guitars, backing vocals, synth guitars)
– Toshiyuki “Toshi” Sueyoshi (bass, backing vocals)
– Katsuji Kirita (drums, percussion, backing vocals, programming)
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