GIGAN — Footsteps of Gigan (review)

EP · 2007 · Technical Death Metal

4/5 · 2016-03-16
siLLy puPPy

GIGAN (ガイガン) was the daikaju (大怪獣 daikaijū?, giant kaiju) or giant monster that was the first to inflict some serious damage on Godzilla in the classic 1972 film Godzilla vs. GIGAN. He was a strange chap with that identifying buzz saw on his torso and nice piercing metallic hooks for hands that actually made Godzilla bleed. Well, lo and behold this band can inflict the same audio damage and to be honest, GIGAN is the perfect name.

This Tampa, FL death metal band formed in 2006 but is anything but old school. In fact i wouldn’t even call this death metal despite that being the usual tag. This is extreme metal all the way. While death metal sounds are aplenty, there are also black metal, thrash metal and most of all avant-garde metal aspects well at play. GIGAN could accurately be called an experimental extreme metal band because they have an unusual unorthodox mix of things and in this case, that’s a good thing!

The band released their EP debut FOOTSTEPS OF GIGAN in 2007 and totally in character the 13:56 mini-release actually begins (and ends) with footage from the Japanese film and then breaks into intense deathcore type guitar riffage and majorly intense drum workouts on the short intro instrumental title track. The second track “Severed Spider Legs” breaks into an angular rhythmic attack with death metal vocals joining in and creating an intense tech metal workout in the process. This is hard to swallow metal with jangly distorted guitar chords, jazz influenced progressions and off-kilter time signatures that alternate between extremely aggressive passages and psychedelic intermissions. In fact, i would actually categorize this madness as psychedelic extreme metal for it mixes up tech metal extremities with psychedelic and chaotic counterpoints.

What really comes to mind with GIGAN is that they somewhat remind me of Deathspell Omega’s major leap into the progressive extreme world with “Fas - Ite, Maledicti, In Ignem Aeternum,” which actually came out the same year so it’s unlikely influence was in play but GIGAN seems to have developed simultaneously a similar chaotic display of extreme metal that could take more accessible aspects with totally unfamiliar and strange developments to create some very jarring and bizarre earache music.

The cool thing about FOOTSTEPS OF GIGAN is that although it is under fifteen minutes long, the blueprint of GIGAN’s sound is already laid out here. While Deathspell Omega cries out to me as the closest metallogical relative here, GIGAN had already developed their own avant-garde tendencies including the hyperactive slide-guitar freakiness that appears as a distinct sound on future albums. Strange for a metal band GIGAN also uses the theremin which adds some bizarre psychedelic embellishments to the unrelenting metal assault. The music mostly stays in the extreme metal world but the band incorporates strange psychedelic passages and at times mix the two extremes together. I love this debut and this is well worth getting / hearing because the three tracks on this early demo turned EP have not been included or re-recorded on their other albums thus far.