God Forbid – Earthsblood

It’s 2009 and even though the album is not out until February 24, we have a copy and here is a review of Earthsblood by New Jersey’s own, GOD FORBID. While the masses seemed to disregard their last offering or perhaps it’s just they became lost in a sea of over-abundance but that did not deter them from writing a monster of an album.

From the opening intro music, it’s very apparent that GF are looking to jump to the next level with a gothic tinge that ends quickly into the blast-oriented intro of The Rain. Vocalist Byron Davis sounds angrier than ever and turns in his most stellar performance to date. The following track, Empire Of The Gun is a unique song which showcases the bands abilities to have driving rhythms, time changes, melodic vocal passages, and anthemic guitar lines, and solos which take the band to a new level and could be a future single.

The 4th song is the first available online for our ears with War Of Attrition which has killer grooves, some very dark death-oriented guitar passages on the verses which get appropriately supported throughout the song by the ominous bass tone of John Outcalt whose tone is perfected this round. The New Clear is one we might not expect from the quintet with its melancholy, tribal verses before all hell breaks loose with the double kick of Corey Pierce which segues into clean vocal passages in where the band truly steps out of their comfort zone, yet manage to do it comfortably and without sounding forced. Shallow has a Bay Area thrash vibe about it that is driven by staccato riffing and straight forward drumming to bring us back to 1986.

Walk Alone starts off in a manner that you would never expect (almost 80’s hard rock sounding) and the guitar melodies sound reminiscent of dare I say Joe Satriani in the opening music. But there are many changes in texture and dynamics within the song that keep you guessing yet always interested. The guitar shredding at the end of the song (and throughout the album) shows how tight the brothers Coyle (Doc and Dallas) have become whilst working on this masterpiece as their rhythms, solos, melodies, and interplay showcases the duo at the top of their game. Bat The Angels has some guitar patterns and effects similar to PANTERA that will attract some new listeners. The clean vocal lines have some interesting layering (and harmonies) that show how GF continues to push themselves musically. The title track is the epic of Earthsblood which has a heavy intro with eerie lows, chant passages, and guitartronics to please the shred crowd. The album finishes off with Gaia (The Vultures) which shows that the band is capable to bring down the volume and tempo with an ethereal and moody sound and I didn’t think they could keep it that mellow for so long and the string arrangement at the end bring the album full cyle from the intro track.

Earthsblood has a sounding of commitment from start to end. Forget calling GOD FORBID a metalcore act! GF has now officially broken into a new realm and have honed their songwriting skills to simply break their mold and are now a high-quality metal band that have raised the bar for releases in 2009!

Rating: 10/10
Label: Century Media
Website: www.godforbid1.com

(+86 rating, 19 votes)

• Digg
• Facebook
• del.icio.us
• RSS Feed
• Email This Post