For those who don’t know, Enniskillen was once home to a might record shop called ‘Island Discs’. In its day, island Discs was the mecca of the North West for all things hard rock and metal. Anything demo/bootlegged or hard to find was always to be found in Island and generally at a decent price. It was a gathering ground for every rock/metal fan in the town and the surrounding counties. It’s no surprise that Enniskillen is now in the habit of producing some quality metal, first with Darkest Era and now Gargantuan (and
many more I’ve still discover I’m sure).
Formed in 2008, the death metal quartet has spent the last four years furiously touring Ireland with some of the major players from the Belfast and Dublin scene. They released their debut EP, Gargantuan EP in 2010 and now they’re ready to take things to a new level. Declarations of Gore is the band’s second EP and there’s no denying they’ve made some serious progress in the last two years. While the Gargantuan E.P. was a powerful adversary that nicely fused together many of the bands death / technical metal influences, it pales in comparison to Declarations of Gore. The songs on the first EP had the intensity, the power but seemed to lack a direction (except Sticky Trigger Finger; that song gallops down the headphones). That’s all over now as opening tune, ‘Hell Unearth’, thunders through the speakers with unstoppable fury. It introduces honed skills, a sharper direction and a harmonious mix of their influences and own unique style.
‘Kathartic Bloodletting’ pulls back into a brooding, intimidating mangle of restrained riffs and classic death / brutal metal structure. Less full frontal aggressiveness on K. Bloodletting is evened off when ‘I Rot’ hammers in. A concoction of death and black metal, I Rot is disjointed in structure, at times drawn out, but the power and intensity of the verse and bridges makes the song an authoritative piece for this EP. ‘Math Murder’ brings a little more doom back into Gargantuan’s sound. Slow and mighty at the start, you’re quickly thrown into a private pit of intensity. The EP ends with the forceful ‘Necrosis‘. Here the band just let loose with rampaging aggression. No long bridges, no melodic pit stops – just full on war for the ears. Excellent finish from a truly promising band. They’ll be down in Dublin for a show on June 1st at the Dublin Day of Decay so make sure you stop by and check them out.
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