When I choose to compare metadata with my source as my VCS, there was an "&" char in the recordtype XML definition file.

    <values>
        <fullName>Food & Beverage</fullName>
        <default>false</default>
    </values>

This threw an error and there was no support and no explanation at that time.

I suggest you to improve this error message.
Message I got:

Could not parse the XML for 'force-app/main/default/objects/Lead/businessProcesses/Buyer.recordType-meta.xml'. Error occurred at line 71. Further details: An error occurred while parsing EntityName. Line 71, position 29.

File, line and position it's ok. maybe a link to Gearset docs with walkthrough with this probable cause when a parsing error happens.