This summer the mysterious band GOD has released its fourth full-length album “IV – Revelation”. Stylistically it is the same old GOD, but it lasts more than two hours. A bit too long, but not too boring, thanks to all multiple musical moves.
Even the most die-hard fans are not always prepared to enjoy so lengthy albums, but this length was demanded by a concept. Difficult to say how truly religious the band GOD is, but the concept of the band’s vision is truly sustained by all biblical meanings. This album consists of 22 songs, and that’s exact number of chapters in biblical “Book of Revelation” with every song dedicated to one of the chapters. Through instrumental visions GOD demonstrates the eternal issues between good and evil in the background of philosophical doctrines. GOD chose the theme of Christianity through the prism of biblical teachings, and although this theme is, if not a big no-no, then usually it is received with a casual neglect, but that hasn’t stopped the band to devote its art to its interests (and maybe to true beliefs as well).
The musical genre of GOD’s music is closer to djent, though occasionally the heaviness overshadows virtuosic moves on the verge of technical death metal. “IV – Revelation” is extremely progressive release despite that sometimes the structures of the songs are mechanically simplified to alleviate perception of exorbitant use of progressive elements. Considering the fact, that this album is entirely instrumental, the borders of the genres are slightly blurred, but in fact there’s no single song, which would lack a piercing scream or thoughtful drawling singing. The instrumental parts are so visibly harmonious among themselves, that there’s no need to add the words, the music speaks for itself.
The album starts with acoustic intro on song “Revelation”, making the music more atmospheric, and the acoustic parts periodically appear during the album (like in the songs “Repent” or “False Prophet”). Generally, this release imbues optimistic thoughts, despite the abundance of dark and anxious moments, because even in these gloomy and distressing passages can be heard some kind of hope. The peak of anxiety is truly emphasized on a track “Hell” with high-pitched guitars, almost like sirens.
Even melancholic guitar riffs (like in the song “Eternity”) create a positive perception, so only the disharmonic and chaotic riffs (almost psychedelic) can contaminate this optimistic aura, like in the song “Lake of Fire – The second Death”. Symphonic elements make the music more solemn and festive (“7”), but some chaotic elements are much closer to mathcore (“Beast”), “Throne” is more like metalcore piece, and “144,000” perfectly fits to post-metal. The most interesting part is the constant change of rhythm and mood, making the songs structurally diversified and emotionally rich. And the tendence to emphasize the darkest songs with extra heaviness and psychedelic moves is also justified (like in the songs “Lucifer”, “Hell” or “Abyss”), because it’s not so easy to convey a message without lyrics.
The goal of GOD is to release 33 albums, dedicated to biblical themes. It’s hard to tell whether GOD will succeed in it, because if consider its present state (one album per year or two), then this project will exist more than 30 years. But djent music is a new genre, so there is a lot of possibilities for GOD to preach through the music its own ideas and concepts.
Release date: July 14th, 2020
https://www.facebook.com/GODElRigna/
If you really would like to support Antichrist, you can just Share our article.
You can also support Antichrist by sending a couple bucks to cover some webhosting expenses. =>> PayPal
