Hailing from Moscow, Russia, Gosudar is a three-piece death metal whose style is formed on the foundation of the old school death metal movement of the late eighties and early nineties. Formed in 2018 by Renat Kurmakaev (drums), Sergey Milenin (guitars, vocals), and Vadim Ivanov (lead vocals, guitars), taking the approach of combining mid-paced tempos and the steamrolling drums. “Morbid Despotic Ritual” conveys a classic raw method with only six tracks prone towards old-school technicality and aggression. Gosudar managed to turn its sound into a beastly kind of a band. In terms of riffing the raw sound production of the album boast a potent blend of grooves and organic musicianship. 

Without being influenced by the modern flocks of U.S. death metal, the opening salvo “Demented Visions of the Infinite Power” morphs into a crushing mid-tempo. While the uniqueness of the craft is focused on the heavy locomotive work of the guitars and the bulldozing drums, Gosudar displays its primal incarnation of semi-brutal technical death metal. On their first album, the Russian trio has equipped its arsenal with heavy drum bombardments while the riffs storm like thunder. On the second track “Awakening of the Realm”, the trio unleashes a fury of aggression where the entire range of mid-pacing riffs brings with it a churning maelstrom. The tempo span from slow discharges of bone-crushing drums to the scale of blast beats and is meticulously measured leading to grooving sections that are perfectly placed between the frequent tempo changes.

“Morbid Despotic Ritual” highlights the assertive qualities of the band. There is ample space for the drums and the guitars to apply some heavy dynamics. The guitar tone is fat and filthy, oozing with grisly riffs full of ominous guitar segments. The role of the lead guitars provides some infectious hooks, whereas the drums switch between heavy paces and blast beats. Regardless of the bold extremity, the guitars drip with malicious melodies and they are bolstered by inhuman growls. The rhythm guitar creates powerful effects and the churning riffs are excellently performed, this unique craft of the guitar sets a pitch-black atmosphere creating a gloomy backdrop, thus allowing the morbid undertones to shine vividly. 

Gosudar understands how to apply the dynamics. When the blast beats are executed, the whole sound shifts to a brutal tone. “Prophecy Embodiment” delivers shredding solos and the pace is mostly focused on raw death metal. Although the guitars are somewhat down-tuned, they sound abrasive. As the band sustains the efforts to tackle the raw brutal style, the quality of the riffs is mainly inspired by U.S. death metal bands such as Suffocation.

With a bold and aggressive demonstration crafted by their own style, I found other tracks such as “Scripture of the Vile Testimony” cunningly utilized by the bulldozing aggression. The slower segments of the rhythm guitar echo ominously in an otherworldly fashion. The dark reverb of the deep guttural growls perfectly fit with the churning atmosphere of the guitars. In its multifaceted full-length album, Gosudar delivers rather creepy and blood-curdling moments. “Insurrection of Nephilim” emphasizes the multifaceted approach to death metal, the band effectively convey variety of riffs and solos. Whereas the guitars slowly create a haunting backdrop of the supernatural realm, each track builds on the slow-crushing sections.

“Morbid Despotic Ritual” is the first illustration by these Russians who successfully achieved a sort of creativity. And I’d say the band has brought some excellent material full of thrilling ideas that are brilliantly interwoven into the murky style of doom metal, hence creating an overall swampy and raw death metal experience. The album title track begins with steady grooves and then progresses towards slow cavernous death/doom style. Gosudar‘s endeavor offers many twists but the complex craftsmanship and the unique quality captures the grisly tone of the classic death metal in such an inspiring way!

Release Date: May 28th, 2021
Label: Rotted Life Records
Tracklist:

1. Demented Visions of The Infinite Power
2. Awakening of the Realm
3. Prophecy Embodiment
4. Scripture of the Vile Testimony
5. Inssurection of Nephilim
6. Morbid Despotic Ritual