Ground Nero – Divergence (CD Album – Danse Macabre Records)
Genre/Influences: Gothic rock, cold wave, post-punk
Background/Info: Third release (but first full album release on Danse Macabre Records) for the Belgian gothic rock band from the mining area in Limburg that was formed in 2016.
Content: Opener “Litany” is an uptempo catchy song that has all typical gothic rock ingredients to make it a dancefloor-filler. “Jabez” sounds a bit calmer but very melancholic and full of nice synth soundscapes. Track 3, “Ball & Chain” is full of sadness and bitterness, for me one of the lesser tracks. The next 2 songs “Heaven Sent” and “Divergence” are especially vocally very strong and reminded me strongly on other bands in the goth-scene like The Wake, Love Like Blood and The Merry Thoughts, in a positive way. The dark atmosphere created on “Savannah” is very special because of the nice guitars and different way of singing. “Alacrity” sounds very bombastic but has a good combination of synths and guitars. And then it’s time for the best track of the album: “Today No Day” that has a sinister voice, nice guitar-riffs and danceable beats, a club-hit for the goth scene? More of this on “They Knew”, another uptempo song driven on a catchy synth melody and a very different voice. “Kitezh – The Path” is the last song, full of melancholic dark soundscapes.
+ + + : “Divergence” keeps the listener interested until the very end, especially the last 3 songs are very nice compositions. You can hear that a lot of efforts were put into creating this album.
– – – : There are not many new musical elements on this album, which is typical for this genre, although the traditional dark and doomy atmosphere is well represented.
Conclusion: The deep voice of singer Guido (Gwijde) Wampers combined with the gothic guitarplay of Nomad and the pumping bass of Peter Philtjens make from Ground Nero a fixed value in the Belgian goth scene.
Best songs: “Litany”, “Heaven Sent”, “Divergence”, “Savannah”, “Today No Day”, “They Knew”.
Rate: (8½) WH.
Artist: www.ground-nero.com / www.facebook.com/Groundnero
Label: www.dansemacabre.de / www.facebook.com/dansemacabrerec
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