Gone Is Gone – Self Titled

Gone Is Gone are a heavyweight American rock supergroup that were formed earlier this year. They are comprised of Troy Sanders, better known as the vocalist and bass player from Mastodon, Troy Van Leeuwen, guitarist for Queens Of The Stone Age, Tony Haijar, the drummer from At The Drive In, and their secret weapon, Mike Zarin, a renowned multi instrumentalist and composer. With the potential on show from the component members of Gone Is Gone I was hopeful they would be something special.

As you’d expect this is a pummelling slice of alt-rock, opening track Violescent makes me think of a 21st century Black Sabbath, this is followed by Starlight, a sinister number that builds to a impressive crescendo. However, it’s not all brooding rock, Character and Recede And Enter are disquieting instrumentals, whilst these two songs are interesting compositions they don’t really add to the album, I can see people skipping to the next track after they’ve played this self titled album a few times. The remaining four tracks carry on in the same vein as Gone Is Gone began, they carry the darkness that is inherent in the tone of the album but for some reason they don’t quite hit the spot.

Gone Is Gone are from the heavier end of the alt rock stable, the songwriting and musicianship on display on this album can’t be faulted, yet I can’t help feeling disappointed, this album rarely seems to get out of third gear, for all of the pedigree they bring from their parent bands this album feels oddly restrained, Gone Is Gone never seem to quite open up the throttle and let loose. This is a fine album but with a few tracks that upped that ante, or offered something different from the moody alt-rock, it could have been something greater. Sadly Gone Is Gone is a case where the whole is not greater than the sum of it’s parts.

Gone Is Gone will be released on July 8th and can be ordered from iTunes, deluxe packages including CD, vinyl and cassette, can be ordered here