Gone Is Gone - Gone Is Gone
Supergroup impress on debut EP
More or less “than the sum of their parts” seems to be the clichéd way to describe supergroups, as the extent to which the band members’ backgrounds influence the group’s music is assessed. With Gone Is Gone, however, the influence of the members’ original bands are used to significant advantage, as they’re melded together with a handful of new elements to create an exotic mix of post-metal, prog and movie-score-esque sonics. “Supergroup” may be a label given to many bands nowadays, but with members of Mastodon, At The Drive-In and Queens Of The Stone Age included, Gone Is Gone are worthy of the title, and thankfully, live up to it.
The film trailer and video game scores that At The Drive-In’s Tony Hajjar and guitarist-keyboardist Mike Zarin created together have seeped into Gone Is Gone, blending the eccentricities of Mastodon and Queens Of The Stone Age with a cinematic edge. Naturally, therefore, the EP’s eight tracks blend together well as if following a narrative, with particular tracks often sounding unique to a strange degree when listened to individually.
Though the band members’ previous works leak into Gone Is Gone’s material, there is more to the band than a mashing together of their various projects. Sure, the band’s heavier moments have a fast-paced energy that At The Drive-In aficionados will recognise, but in including ethereal undertones in a way similar to Gojira’s Magma, the EP becomes a release that is as evocative as it is crushingly intense, as it enwraps you in its rich atmospherics.
‘This Chapter’, an immediate stand-out, finishes the EP off with enchanting, psychedelically-influenced prog, after its slow-building, movie-score intro. Meanwhile, on ‘Stolen From Me’, brutal riffs are later replaced by moments of eerie serenity, which are in turn penetrated by Tory Sanders’ rough vocals and thick, weighty basslines amongst punishing guitar-work. Drone-like noises on ‘Character’ suggest a sludge metal side to the group, but its follower ‘One Divided’ instead hits hard with a quick, crushing power that is accompanied by menacing and devilish backing music.
With just over half-an-hour of material, Gone Is Gone’s introductory EP manages to cover a lot of ground sonically, as its movie score scale and post-metal tinkerings explores a range of sounds with varying heaviness. One can only hope their impending full-length explores an even greater range of styles, as in doing so it could have the capacity to become one of modern metal’s most unique and poignant albums, whilst retaining the abrasive edge metal often calls for.
9/10
