Garganjua: Hurtling Toward The Sun
It’s easy to take for granted the tremendous output spilling from Holy Roar Records, as they shower us with massive releases on a near monthly basis. The label can boast a glowing reputation earned by their innate ability to hand pick the finest rising stars in the metal scene; bands that impress with their oppressive and domineering stature. GARGANJUA meet this criteria perfectly, and in releasing their latest effort Toward The Sun last month, they have once again proven just how potent their music can be. Leading a charge through the UK metal scene with their label mates CONJURER, they are levelling all in their path, leaving us standing in their wake open mouthed with awe.
Even though the band have taken a fairly relaxed approach to the release, it has been met by rapturous success, with many already tipping it be a favourite once the year comes to an end. When asked where they expect the album to take them, the reply came with modesty. “I think if you’re in a position where you write and release music you’re proud of, you’re successful.” They have always written music for themselves, a trait that has no doubt added to their identity. “Personally, it’s a fundamental part of my happiness and if I can look back at the finished piece and smile, then that’s all the success you need in my opinion.”
Toward The Sun is a step forward for GARGANJUA, both in terms of quality and concept. Different in sound and texture, it is less doom-driven and leans more towards atmosphere than previous work. It stands as a real statement piece and has the feel of the focal point in their discography. “Music is about progression and we’re not the same people that we were three years ago. We’ve stretched our legs more on this album and explored other avenues of our musical tastes.” In drawing together a holy trinity of doom, black and post metal, they left no door unopened in their quest to wringe every ounce of poignance from their recording.
And spoiler alert, it worked. “Truth be told we didn’t set out to write another GARGANJUA album, I just started listening to more music again and picking the guitar up every now and then.” Two albums worth of content had been written by the time they realised a new GARGANJUA record had been born. This meant a piece built with no expectations or preconceptions, and the lack of deadline made the whole process much more fun. “I think that’s probably why there are a few surprises on this album. It was quite a nice approach in the end!”
From there the theme and lyrics poured out. “It was really cool to work on a theme and message this time around. The music has a certain energy to it and I wanted to have a lyrical theme that matched that. It feels like a concept album. Sort of!” Having spent a chunk of time pouring over the likes of Eckhart Tolle and Alan Watts, the album deals with the flaws of humanity. “We spend so much time in our heads, thinking. Thinking that this world is all about us, like we’re owed something, living in the past, worrying about the future, harming each other, feeling like we’re somehow entitled to something. I think it’s ugly. I think if anything, we owe the world everything, we owe it the best version of ourselves we can be, we owe it to each other, to ourselves. Else we’ll continue to destroy everything. Now that’s not to say there isn’t a lot of good in this world, there definitely is, but so many of us need to wake up and be more mindful and aware of the bigger picture. I truly believe it’s a path to a truer, genuine happiness. And ultimately, isn’t that what we all want to be? As happy as we can be? Because our time is short.”
GARGANJUA have truly used Toward The Sun as a vehicle to channel these veracious views, and perhaps that is why it carries weight. Defined of course by cascading heavy riffs and dense atmospherics, but genre leading albums generally possess more than simply impressive writing. They carry meaning to the listener. “In the future think things will keep changing and we’ll continue to try new things. But it will always be heavy.”
Toward The Sun is out now via Holy Roar Records.
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