ALBUM REVIEW: Gnod – Chronicles of Gnowt Vol 1

Rocket Recordings

Released: 10.04.26

The result of a week in the studio with Spud Murphy (ØXN, Lankum etc) that was so fruitful it birthed three albums worth of material (with volumes 2 and 3 in the post), Volume 1 is in the same ballpark, sonically, as 2024’s Spot Land for the first side at least – a kind of wasted/blasted, laid back drift. Three Trees Pts 1 and 2 bookend the side, offering a slightly frazzled bucolic vibe. Shadow Mirror has a lot of early Hawkwind in its DNA, a looping, descending riff that is gentle on the surface but suggests something alarming on the other side of the hedge. Perhaps what’s on the other side of the hedge is actually Neptune, clammy and unsettling, the sound of the voices in your head. This is the dark part of the trip before you emerge blinking into the sun.

Side Two is more in the vein of ‘classic’ Gnod (although for a band with a discography this varied, that’s a hotly contested term). All Tunnel No Light is a speaker-troubling Earth-like crawl, ten minutes of slow-building dread. Ekstasis start off sounding like something off Nurse With Wound’s Huffin’ Rag Blues, a wonky, sleazy groove that fragments and distorts and mutates across its length before imploding. Gnod can be a frustrating band, but when they’re fully on it, they’re one of the most absorbing and exciting bands we have.