God Dethroned – Passiondale
When done right, fast-paced European death metal is unstoppable. The problem is there’s been a lack of it lately when it comes to the quality department. It’s not surprise that it took a veteran group like God Dethroned to kick the scene in the ass again. On the soon to be released Passiondale, the Dutch act drop one piercing guitar riff after the other giving drummer Roel Sanders no choice but to keep his bass drum pedals working overtime. His impressive footwork and blast beats here are nothing short of spectacular. It’s a shame more people don’t talk this guy’s playing more. On “Under a Darkening Sky” Sanders’s mighty performance brings to mind the work of the great Tony Laureno (Nachtmystium, Dimmu Borgir) who coincidently played with God Dethroned in the past.
Passiondale lyrics are threaded together by a story based around a European village ravaged by WWI and the cold production, courtesy of Jörg Uken and vocalist/guitarist Henri Sattler captures the spirit. The guitars have bite to them but stand out melodies are woven into the arrangements from song to song. The album charges at full tilt for most of its duration but God Dethroned still take some interesting detours. “Poison Fog” features the clean and left-of-center vocals of Marco v.d. Velde of the band The Wounded. His part comes out of nowhere yet compliments the song proving Uken and Sattler’s instincts right. This band has been around since the beginning of the 1990s and popularity has eluded them for the most part but albums this good shouldn’t be ignored.
Rating: 8/10
Label: Metal Blade Records
Website: www.myspace.com/villavampiria
By Carlos Ramirez
(+34 rating, 8 votes)
Weak review, though I pretty much agree with everything said within, simply unimpressed with the short review.
very good band, I would love to see them live sometime.
TTT was a great album, so I was expecting this album to be incredible. Instead, we have a return to too many blastbeats and generic death metal riffing. Major fan, but this is the worst album by GD in their entire catalog.
Dumbfuck: You are, in fact, a dumb fuck. This album rules.
Dethorgy: If you don’t like the reviews, start writing them yourself.