Genre: Death Metal/Grindcore
Year: 2008
Tracklist:
| 1. | Undead Auditory Emanations | 03:40 | |
| 2. | Occult Rites of the Uumpluuy | 04:15 | |
| 3. | Still Image Symphomy | 04:24 | |
| 4. | Imprisoned Within Duality | 04:28 | |
| 5. | Hiding Behind the House of Mirrors | 08:06 | |
| 6. | Chrysalis | 03:22 | |
| 7. | Interstellar Inversion If Consciousness | 04:12 | |
| 8. | Space Coffin Hallucinations | 06:07 | |
| 9. | [untitled] | 21:26 | |
| Total playing time | 01:00:00 | ||
Formed by two former members of Hate Eternal and a drummer I’ve never heard of, the band take much of their sound from their former masters’ crushing heaviness, but throw in plenty of dissonant weirdness courtesy of Gorguts as well, forming a freakish crossbreed that is more reminiscent of those Australian trailblazers Portal than anyone. Yet whilst Portal are all about the unsettling atmosphere, Gigan take a step back and allow you to be buffeted by the technicality of the music alone. Imagine a Cryptopsy that hasn’t gone to complete shit, one that was willing to go off into space rather than into Deathcore land, and you’ll start to appreciate what Gigan have managed to achieve here. I’ve seen this classified as Psychedelic Death Metal, and listening to the likes of the eight-minute Hiding Behind The House Of Mirrors I can see why, distinctly spacey for half the running before turning into an intense and sharp-edged trip that takes Meshuggah’s weirdest moments and nastily stabs you in the face with them. Of course, songs like Still Image Symphomy manage to be suitably freak-y as well, technical and Proggy without losing that all-important Death Metal edge.
The majority of the ‘songs’ here are three-to-four minute bursts of leftfield brutality that will all sound the same until you’ve listened more than five times or so, but will leave a deranged smile on your face each and every time. It goes without saying that both Eric Herseman (guitars, bass, ‘abstract sounds’) and Randy Piro (guitars, vocals, ‘abstract sounds’) are pretty incredible to listen to, their crazy riffs not just taking the ‘spazzcore’ route but genuinely sounding like something from an alternate universe, but the aforementioned previously-unknown drummer Danny Ryan is simply amazing, shunted to the background by the production but still an important part of proceedings and more than proof enough that Gigan are a genuinely awesome band.
As if you still needed persuasion as to that fact, then finale piece Untitled should convince, being twenty minutes of nightmarish echoes, drum solos, and psychedelic Noise that will leave you a gibbering wreck. It does the work of three Hawkwind albums, and whilst it’s not the kind of song that many will listen to on repeat, it is an excellent way to finish the album, providing the finishing blow after the severe beating of all the intense technicality, the likes of Undead Auditory Emanations burning a hole through your ears with their sheer Tech-Death quality. This really stands out from the crowd... anyone with an interest in the technical side of Death Metal should put Gigan at the top of their purchase list immediately.
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