Russian Orthodox gothic/black metal? While that description might sound unusual to most American listeners, that is exactly what we have here. Gospod hail from the Russian Federation, and have released one album for Michigan-based Vision of God Records. I don’t have a ton of details about the band, but we do know that it’s a one-man project written and performed by Tumanov Roman Mikhailovich.
Musically, however, there is much that can be said. Their sole album, Исход Израиля (or, Israel’s Exodus) features a really intriguing mix of gothic metal and black metal. The cold and bleak guitar tones of black metal are met with unusually warm and layered vocal harmonies, that at times almost sound like the best examples of a sea shanty, or dwarves singing from a long-lost metallic Tolkien-inspired film. If that sounds like nothing you’ve ever heard, then perhaps I’ve hit the mark, because Gospod indeed strikes a unique chord.
Lyrically, the album is entirely based around the biblical Exodus account of the Old Testament community escaping slavery. If you like gothic metal and/or black metal and/or unique sounds in general, I would definitely recommend checking Gospod out.
