No creative boundaries

Almost two years since their last album Atrophy, the extreme heavy metal band Downfall of Gaia have produced another six track album. With Ethic of Radical Finitude, it seems that the band is continuing with their trend of having six or seven tracks per album with a few song approaching or surpassing 10 minutes long. Prior to the February 8th release date, metalblade revealed that vocalist/guitarist Dominik Goncalves dos Reis stated that in this album “each song is some kind of journey, with emotional ups and downs.”  

With this in mind, it’s clear to see that they succeed in each song having its own entity while being part of a whole at the same time. As an album, it starts off slow with “Seduced By” which is three minutes of no vocals and building sound. Even at full volume, it takes about ten seconds to actually hear something.

Although, that choice seems to be a deliberate direction taken because almost all the songs have a slow beginning that escalates in their own way. The second track, “The Grotesque Illusion of Being,” is the only song that has lyrics in the first minute. While at times the album can drag a little due to this, there is a calming quality to taking in the soft breaks between brash bellows.   

Honestly, what they accomplish in one song is typically seen across an entire album. Usually, there are melody shifts throughout the whole album, but Downfall of Gaia deliver a dynamic masterpiece all in one song. Halfway through “We Pursue the Serpent of Time,” if people were zoning out it almost appears as if a new song has started. What brings the song all together is the familiar guitar beat throughout. But, that can be said about all three long songs in this album.

Also, with the outside collaboration of Nikita Kamprad from Der Weg Einer Freiheit and Mers Sumida of Black Table, more power is added to the album, especially with the use of spoken words.

Ultimately, the long breaks, winding build ups and lyrics both sung and spoken, create a 40-minute trip that makes people think about and soak in each song.