GIGAN

I was wondering what happened to Randy Piro after he left HATE ETERNAL. I guess I missed the news that he had joined GIGAN, the band formed by guitarist/bassist Eric Hersemann. Piro is vocalist/guitarist for the group, which also includes drummer/percussionist Danny Ryan. Branded as a "heavy, psychedelic band", which is accurate in a general sense, GIGAN emphasizes disorientation and technicality in its death metal on sophomore effort "The Order of the False Eye" with workable, if sometimes tiresome, results.

As a technical death metal album, "The Order of the False Eye", falls outside the typical fret-fusillades realm created by any number of bands from labels like Unique Leader and Willowtip, but only because intergalactic freak outs and unsettling dissonance take precedence over arpeggio-swept bombing runs. One can in fact hear HATE ETERNAL in some of the chords and odd tones, as well as the growled vocal parts; just listen to a piece of the main riff on "Undead Auditory Emanations" and you are likely to recall "Powers that Be". Beyond those familiar sounds you will hear some fairly interesting arrangements that feature jazzy movements and bursts of extraterrestrial noise terror. Included is a closing, hidden track of nerve grinding psychosis that goes on in excess of 20 minutes, the purpose of which would seem to be as a mechanism to drive annoying residents out of the neighborhood.

In a nutshell, there is a certain degree of originality on "The Order of the False Eye" and at least a modicum of intriguing arrangements propelled by totally tripped out and sometimes effective riff rampages and otherworldly bass lines. Those into the "out there" end of death metal that have no beef with a lack of memorable song structures may dig it. I'm not totally sold on the album's long-lasting appeal, but I did get some enjoyment out of it. I've not heard anything like it this year, which isn't necessarily a buy-recommendation, but rather an indication that it might be worth checking out for some of you.