Review GOZU ‘Remedy’

Gozu is an American rock band and should not be mixed up with the English black metal combo of the same name. The Americans have already released three long players with ‘Lucust Season’, ‘The Fury of a Patient Man’ and ‘Revival’. With ‘Equilibrium’ the fourth longplayer of the quartet from Boston followed in 2018. After another six years a new work of the guys comes into the record stores now called ‘Remedy’.

Gozu, that means heavy riffs, stoner rock vibes and a heavy groove. All this can be found on the nine songs of ‘Remedy’ in abundance. The first song is ‘Tom Cruise Control’, a title that already shows that the guys don’t take everything extremely serious. Nevertheless, the opener, like the entire album, sounds mature and professional. You can’t help but like the thundering riff and it quickly becomes apparent that the guys know what they’re doing. Musically of good quality, the guys go to work with a lot of enthusiasm and smash the bundled power of stoner rock at you.

‘Remedy’ also seems fresh and very dynamic, thanks in part to the addition of drummer Seth Botos. It seems as if his enthusiasm inspires the other band members, which is reflected not least in the crashing ‘Rambo 2’.

With ‘Joe Don Baker’ the guys shift up a gear and also the mighty ‘Pillow Talk’ leads to sweet dreams for followers of the mighty force of power chords.

Gozu’s songs are by and large relatively long, meaning that most of the tracks pass over the 5-minute mark. On this occasion, the closing ‘The Handler’ is the crashing grande finale with nine minutes of playing time. Opened by a slow and pithy riff, the song rolls into the listener’s subconscious and doesn’t let go. With almost hypnotic intensity, the song unfolds a fascination that is hard to resist.

Also to mention is ‘Ash’. The song begins loud and ferocious, before a quiet, almost lounge-like part creates a special atmosphere. Of course, the thumping guitars return and it’s exactly these alternations which make ‘Remedy’ such an interesting and varied record.

Marc Gaffney, Joseph Grotto, Doug Sherman and Seth Botos have created an exciting record where passion is an important and driving element. Experience and impetuosity blend in a successful way to create a unity that listeners will enjoy for a long time.