GUERILLA TREE (DEU) – Mountain’s view, 2022 🇬🇧
GUERILLA TREE is a band that can clearly be classified within progressive metal. Coming from Germany (Düsseldorf, to be more precise) it was founded in 2010 by Sascha Trojahn and René Krov. One year later, they completed the line-up with musicians that came from other bands and musical backgrounds. Mountain’s View is their second album after Mental Leaps, which was released in 2012, and you can now fully hear remixed and remastered through Bandcamp.
Whoever listens to the two albums, will see that the compositional line is similar in both. However, what stands out the most about Mountain’s View is that, although it is true that it is a clear example of a progressive metal band, it doesn’t follow all the clichés of the genre; those being hyper-long tracks with several riffs, bridges, and arrangements. But GUERRILLA TREE‘s music is simpler to listen to and gives a very prominent weight to the melody and vocals.
Another characteristic that makes this album attracts the listener’s attention away from the mass of progressive music, is that there is no omnipresence of guitar solos throughout the ten tracks, but rather the virtuosity is manifested in a very punctual way and in moments when the composition requires it; that is, if they include a solo, it is not something that has happened out of the blue or some sort of show of. It is meticulously arranged.
The contrast in the sonority of the guitars is also striking, as the rhythm guitars have a very raw, valvular, grainy sound, whereas the lead guitars are crystalline. The result is fascinating. A good example of this is «Spiral tendrils of dust«.
The vocals are another astonishing element, without resorting to vocalists who reach two octaves and hold notes for a full minute they get the listener absolutely hooked. The tone has a certain ’80s European pop feel to it, but it never loses its strength. Even so, they also introduce growls in «Inhuman» and «Black soul» that feel like a little too much, and don’t entirely fit but, in all honesty, they don’t hurt either.
Summing up, GUERILLA TREE‘s proposal could be in the top 10 albums of 2022, as they have approached progressive metal from a more minimalist perspective, and an excellent result.
Translated by Irene López
