✦✦✦✧ A dense techdeath masterclass, somewhere between Revocation and Gorguts. The musicianship on display is faultless, and the songwriting is surprisingly catchy and memorable. Did I mention that it’s also heavy? It’ll give you a good neck workout, headbangers.

✦✦✦✧ Three years since their last album, Gorod return with a more honed approach. Their sound now is still solid technodeath, but with a renewed commitment to songcraft. The band wields a more diverse palette this time around, channelling Gojira, Revocation, and early Mastodon… while simultaneously reining in their prior self-indulgences.

★★★☆ Sweet, sweet technodeath. Although perhaps death jazz is more like it. This is BTBAM with less carnival, more progginess (if that’s possible), and a distinctly European sensibility. When it works, the music is stunning. That’s certainly not guaranteed on this album, and the band not infrequently careens into self-indulgence… but at least the album’s failures are always fascinating.