Cold Gawd - I'll Drown on This Earth

Weird wanting to be a music commentator, but here goes anyway.

Introductions

Cold Gawd was introduced to me recently through my local record store owner. I was looking for a shoegazey album to get one of my friends for Christmas and asked for a recommendation, this was the first one he suggested. This track; "All My Life, My Heart Has Yearned For A Thing I Cannot Name", was the first one he played. Immediately I was hooked - rich shoegazey tones fed through a clean intro shoving into a heavy opening for the song. I was hooked.

My personal favorite track from this album is "Gorgeous", and true to its name it embodies the ethereal nature of the genre. Beautiful guitar melodies swirl behind the wall of cymbals, lifted by the vocal performance washed away in a river of reverb. The fuzzed rhythm guitar tones are perfectly balanced, foreshadowing the raw screaming vocals towards the tail end of the track. The production work on this is excellent, each element sits nicely in its place, interlacing with the others to create a moody palette for the listener to enjoy.

Artistic Choices

The album bears a ton of character dripping with the combined artist influence of the band. The drums function as a driving element in a wall of sound and raw emotion. The bass adds tonal clarity (strangely) while still emphasizing the beat. The guitars dance between heavy fuzz and ambient cleans, evolving the musical unfolding on stage (or in studio) in front of the listener.

I agree with the choice to have the vocals barely peaking through the mix, using Matthew's voice as a choral effect, normally clean but occasional filthy. Even when the lyrics are difficult to hear, the emotion is clear. Art from pain expressing beauty in even the darkest moments. I feel a strong pull to compare Van Gogh's art to these musicians using their own life experience to paint us an auditory picture of ecstatic beauty in these tracks.

Side note, I really do envy the singer Matthew's vocal performances - incredible work and it meshes so well with the vibe the band curates. I was reading an interview posted on CVLT NATION where they describe some of the influences and reasonings for the record before this one, ' God Get Me the Fuck Out of Here '.

Some Key Takeaways

Matthew said they wanted to add more beauty to the world. Specifically in contrast with the "bland and mundane as well as negativity shoved directly front and center in your day". I think the goal has been met.

"I've seen so many shit bands through the year and often have found myself saying "I can do better than that." So that's what I'm doing." Real as fuck imo. I think that's a very valid motivation, and again, definitely achieved what they set out to do with this latest album.

Influences listed in the article are:

Whirr - 'Feels Like You'

Nothing - 'Guilty of Everything

Ye - 'Yeezus'

Solange - 'When I Get Home'

Childish Gambino - 'because the internet'

An excellent curation of influences to create something unique and inspired, burgeoning the boundaries of modern shoegaze. I love finding these bands, and I'm incredibly happy this group is actively making music.

Please take the time to listen to them and if you're on the west coast or northeast US, take a look at this for tour dates with tickets.