Ελληνικά
Last Updated on 12:00 AM by Giorgos Tsekas
Genre: Death Metal
Country: Sweden
Label: Soulseller Records
Year: 2017
The Swedish-Norwegians Gods Forsaken are a new project (formed in 2016), and this year they released their debut album ‘In a Pitch Black Grave’. Their members though, are definitely no newcomers, as their guitarist and main composer Anders Hansson has been a member of bands like Amon Amarth (played in their debut album ‘Once Sent from the Golden Hall’) and Blood Mortized, while the rest of their members are veterans of the death metal scene, having played in well-known bands of the genre ((Just Before Dawn, Those Who Bring the Torture, Megascavenger, The Grotesquery etc.). As one might guess, Gods Forsaken also serve the Death Metal genre and, specifically, Swedish OSDM.
So, one might wonder what kind of innovations do Gods Forsaken would have to offer in such a crowded genre. The answer is none; heavy and buzzy guitar tone (typical of Swedish Death Metal), death growls and relentless drum pounding. What makes the band special though is the quality and variety of the songs. Tracks such as ‘In a Pitch Black Grave’, the smashing ‘Born of Blasphemy’ and ‘Souls Torn Apart’, as well as ‘Black Winds of Genocide’, offer us some brilliant oldschool, aggressive, neck-breaking riffs, while the uncanny melodic parts bring back memories of the glorious days of the genre, and those great bands that released monumental albums in the 90’s (Entombed, Dismember, Grave, etc.). There are also doomier, melodic and epic songs such as ‘Ashes of the Dead’ (which reminded me of ‘Once Sent from the Golden Hall’-era Amon Amarth, way before they became mainstream and switched their direction), ‘Curse of the Serpent’ (also influenced by early Amon Amarth) and the melancholic, closing track of the album ‘Chronicles of a Maniac’.
I must recommend ‘In a Pitch Black Grave’ to any Swedish OSDM fan, as well as to those who are into early Amon Amarth. The album is already in my favorites for 2017 and I expect great things by the band, in the future.
5/6
