Gorod have built their name in technical death metal, but “The Ember Gone” shows a band that decided to open its sound outward. The album was released on August 28, 2026 and the cover art is by Hugo Gravel.
Country: France
Genre: Progressive death metal, technical death metal
For fans of: Obscura, Beyond Creation, Opeth, Gojira, Mastodon, The Ocean
The foundation remains the same: interwoven riffs, shifting rhythms, technique that does not hide. The difference is where that technique goes. Here technical death metal stops being the band’s definition and becomes one more element inside something bigger, with room for grooves, post-metal builds, open melodies and sludge weight.
The album also makes room for contrast. There are moments where the sound raises an eyebrow, with restless harmonies, rhythms that pull elsewhere and melodies that escape the classic minor scale. The instrumental “Crimson” is the clearest example, a track that recalls Cynic at their strangest. That irony works in reverse too: when the subject is heavy, the music does not follow it with noise, but in an oblique way, and so the explosion when it comes is louder.
The album’s themes revolve around environmental destruction, social collapse, personal responsibility and political hypocrisy. “Remains” closes the record with a call to revolt, without shouting it.
The performances support the atmosphere. The vocals are mostly harsh and convey emotion with few tones, while the clean ones come through more discreetly and are not the album’s strong point. The drums are excellent throughout, with syncopation and time changes that keep a steady pulse and, despite the complexity, keep the music moving. The guitars tread the classic Opeth era, pass through sludge and grooves and reach solos with clean, melodic lines and neoclassical fast passages. The bass is not pushed forward, but it keeps the pulse, with the polyrhythmic build of “Forgiveness” as a highlight.
The album sounds like a meeting of favourite bands: the riffs of “Devise” would sit comfortably next to Opeth of the “My Arms, Your Hearse” era, the atmosphere of “Forgiveness” has the depth we know from The Ocean, and “Regret” shows their love for Mastodon. The difference is that Gorod use these references as tribute rather than imitation, always keeping something of their own inside the track.
Anyone expecting a classic technical death metal record, with the intensity always at maximum, had better listen with different expectations. Anyone who wants a progressive death album that breathes, with moments that stay with you, will find here one of the most enjoyable things of the year: “Forgiveness”, “Regret” and “Remains” are the moments you keep.
See also
August 2026’s albums: Prog, death, power | Volubilis – Theasterion
