Gold Spire – Gold Spire (Review)

This is the debut album from Gold Spire, a death metal band from Sweden.

Featuring ex-members of the mighty Usurpress, Gold Spire contains 40 minutes of progressive death metal. In many ways this album is the next logical step on from Interregnum, which is great to hear as that was such a superlative album.

With varied songwriting that’s more concerned with the needs and purpose of the music, rather than sticking to genre conventions, and by utilising a variety of non-metal influences and instruments, Gold Spire is honest, authentic, and individual. Jazz and progressive rock influences are mixed with doom and death metal ones to produce an album of rich texture and emotion.

The album boasts songs that are full of emotive content. The music is well-written and effectively realised. The use of saxophone and flute is entirely natural and unforced, and both sound as if they belong in the songs. The jazz and prog elements are fully entwined with the death metal ones, resulting in music that blurs the lines between genres with ease. Add to this a strong doom vibe and you have a very well-rounded collection of tracks.

This band is a fitting continuation of the boundary-pushing legacy of Usurpress, while also being a completely new entity in its own right. Gold Spire have a strong personality all of their own, and on their debut album the band have struck pay dirt. Gold Spire offers a gloomy journey down lesser travelled paths, and I heartily recommend that you take it.

Don’t miss out on this.