Oh, brother: I like Gorod. Something about their vicious technical death metal is just about a million times better than most vicious technical death metal bands. Maybe it's the classy edge (the intro to “Inner Alchemy” sounds like some button-up-shirt prog nerdling band), or maybe it's the fact that the press materials accompanying this mention the words “thrust” and “sexy” (absolutely no way, but nice try), but Gorod always have an extra edge over their peers when it comes to being listenable, and really, actually brutal. 

Check out the aforementioned “Inner Alchemy”: it grooves and builds like actual music, songs like “From Passion To Holiness” (passion? Thrust? Sexy? Still no.) actually toe-tapping and momentum-building in the best of ways, and they even add in an element of humanity to the proceedings, the band hitting hard like Lamb Of God in that particular tune, which is amazing, a great combo of sounds, one that comes across as truly, genuinely heavy. “Rejoice Your Soul” is downright quirky with its choice of chords and song structure, and the band makes it work, even the frayed-nerve coffee-jitters part sounding awesome instead of disjointed like when most other bands try it. And usually when metal bands get “jazz”-y, it's just embarrassing. Here, Gorod lay it down like they actually know what jazz is (glad they do, because I don't). Not only is this a great album, but it's one of Gorod's best, no small feat cool five albums in.